On the 1st of May 2023, Southend City BID hosted a ‘Clean for the King’ event in partnership with McDonald’s throughout the city centre. This initiative was designed to bring the community together, celebrate businesses’ ongoing commitment to creating a cleaner and greener city, and offer an opportunity to reset at this time of new beginnings. With this in mind, the event was a tremendous success.
From 12pm-1:30pm the clean up crew, including Southend City BID, McDonald’s, the 2nd Prittlewell Cubs Group, Southend Manor Football Club Men and Women’s Under 16s, and Mornington Boys’ Football Club Under 13s, took to the High Street and surrounding zone to reinforce their commitment for a clean city. The group cleaned bins, litter picked and had the support of the council’s Veolia operatives to collect rubbish and clean gum from the pavement.
Throughout the week local businesses have also given the city a regal tidy, in order to further enhance the area and commemorate this undeniably historical occasion with Primark, Arastocutz, Laurence Matthews, M&S, and Tomassi’s also revitalising their store fronts as part of this initiative, painting over graffiti, decorating their windows, and raising bunting. Veolia have also undertaken a targeted clean up of flooring outside vacant units.
Daniel Beaumont, Manager of McDonald’s at 72 High Street, said:
‘At McDonald’s we have always been proud to be involved with community projects. Bringing local groups and businesses together to do something positive within the community means a lot to us and helps build lasting relationships. It is particularly exciting to experience a historic event with the king’s coronation and, as such, we wanted to do something to help celebrate this joyous time and show Southend City looking its best.’
Meanwhile, Aras Ali, owner of Arasocutz and Cut U Up, said:
‘We’re doing it for the King, and we’re doing it for the people of Southend. Everyone should have a home which gives them a royal service. Our businesses know how bad these last few years have been and want to use this historically important time to recognise our new King, whilst showing our community how driven we are to make this city a wonderful place to visit and live.’
Finally, Southend City BID Manager Suzanne Gloyne has elaborated on why the committee chose to host this event:
‘The upcoming coronation is a historical and cultural event we were keen to recognise. However, this was not our only motivation behind the clean-up; Southend is a beautiful landmark city with a stunning coastline, whilst being home to countless thriving businesses. As such, we always want to showcase the city in its best possible light. Coming together as a community to make the high street look even more seasonal, creative, and bright is inspiring, collaborative, and simultaneously honours this royal celebration.
Our efforts to keep Southend clean, welcoming, and safe, are ongoing and will always remain a priority.
I would like to thank Veolia and every business who took part in this clean up this week, it was wonderful to work together and the high street looks utterly fantastic!’
If you are looking forward to celebrating King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday the 6th of May and would like to embellish your home or business with patriotic decorations, there are fortunately lots of businesses selling party décor in the high street. For example, Laurence Matthews, The Works, Poundland, Card Factory, Clintons, and Toys ‘n’ Tuck will all be home to great products.
Suzanne continues:
‘If you are planning to visit Southend during any of May’s long-awaited bank holidays, you will discover an array of brilliant eateries and shops. Whether you’re looking to eat, shop, explore, or entertain children, there’s plenty on offer for the entire family – including our free virtual coronation trail with QR codes throughout the city centre. If you do visit, I encourage everyone to use public transport and local services where possible, supporting our local economy during this exciting time.’
John Burr, executive director for neighbourhoods and environments at Southend-on-Sea City Council, said:
‘Southend-on-Sea has experienced and celebrated some truly historic and momentous occasions in recent years. When Charles III and his wife Camilla bestowed the letters patent on Southend-on-Sea and officially turned our Borough into a City, it showed that Southend is at its best when we all work together and support each other.
Southend City BID’s ‘Clean for the King’ initiative demonstrated this perfectly with various groups and businesses, including our waste contractor Veolia, working together to make our City a cleaner and better place for all.
Our City and residents are ready to celebrate the historic Coronation this weekend with numerous street parties planned, and I hope we can inspire others to maintain this goodwill and initiative going forward as Southend works towards being a clean and green City all-year round. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the clean-up, and I hope you all enjoy the bank holiday weekend Coronation celebrations.’
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