Mayor of London doing his bit for the environment

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today confirmed his manifesto commitment to encourage all Greater London Authority staff to spend time out of the office helping to 'clean and green' London - the Mayor announced he and his senior advisers will also sign up to the scheme and lead by example.

The Mayor believes City Hall staff can encourage more Londoners to volunteer by spending at least one day a year volunteering themselves for one of the many organisations that are dedicated to protect and enhance the environment.

The Mayor unveiled a list of organisations that he will recommend staff to get involved with, including: the Environment Trust, the London Wildlife Trust, the National Trust, Dogs Trust, Trees for Cities, Blue Cross - pet charity, British Trust Conservation Volunteers, Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers, Enfield Conservation Volunteers, Lea Valley Park Volunteers, Epping Forest Conservation, Spitalfields City Farm and the Trust for Urban Ecology.

The Mayor of London, said: 'Today I am announcing my intention to roll up my sleeves, and commit to spend some of my time volunteering to help 'clean and green' London in the same way I am strongly encouraging City Hall staff to do so.

'There are an army of marvellous people that are doing a fantastic job to make our local neighbourhoods and green spaces, cleaner and more pleasant. I want to see even more Londoners getting involved in those organisations helping to make their environment better, and it is only right that me and my senior staff lead by example.'

The Environment Trust, one of the organisations included in the list, welcomed today's announcement. Volunteers for the Environment Trust works across London - mainly in the east end - on projects to improve the social, economic and physical environment for the capital's communities.

Jon Aldenton, Chief Executive of the Environment Trust, said: 'We welcome all types of active citizenship so today's announcement by the Mayor is great news. It's good to hear the Trust's efforts will be aided by this push for even more volunteers. We have a wide range of exciting, hands-on activities for Londoners to get involved with such as planting native wild flowers through projects such as 'East End Flowers', which is helping to brighten and enhance this area of London.'
London Daily news.