Litter picking

Can you spare some time to help litter pick in the New Forest?

We want to enable and encourage people to safely pick up litter in their community, so we’ve put together litter-picking kits. Each contains a picking guide, bags, a hi-vis jacket and a litter-picker. They are available free of charge and can be picked up and signed for at NFDC Reception, Lymington Town Hall, Avenue Road, Lymington, open Mon to Fri 9am to 4pm. Over 1,000 litter-picking kits have already been collected and we’d like to thank everyone for their help keeping the Forest and coastline clear of litter.

Sign for your free litter-picking kit

The collection-point staff will ask you to sign the litter pick agreement form when you call to collect kit.

Please note that by signing for a free litter-picking kit, you are agreeing to follow the litter picking health and safety guidance and will litter-pick in a safe way. You will be acting on your own initiative and you will not be covered by the New Forest National Park Authority’s insurance.

You need to be 18 years or over to sign up as a New Forest Ambassador and collect your own litter-picking kit. However, we welcome young ambassadors who can litter-pick with a parent or guardian. If you would like to pick up one or more litter-picking kits for your children, please state the number of children on the litter-picking agreement form. Currently, we do not have any child-sized tabards but hope the small/medium size will not be too large!

Further information about staying safe in the New Forest.

Parish councils and groups

The National Park Authority will occasionally lead a litter-picking event and we will be able to inform you of the details, in case you would like to join us and meet others ambassadors who are doing the same great work.

Outside of this, group activities are likely to need specific permission from the landowner, and group organisers may want to consider getting insurance.

However, we know that some parish councils want to encourage their local residents to get involved and we’re aware that some litter-picking groups already exist.

These include:

If you have contacts with other people and would like to become an additional venue from which people can sign for and collect litter-picking kits, do please contact us.

Disposing of collected litter

Because we anticipate litter-pickers will be on their own or in pairs, we don’t anticipate large quantities of litter. All rubbish collected must be disposed of safely and away from Forest wildlife or livestock. Put it in a nearby litter bin or take it home with you.

Contacting us about litter-picking

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback about this litter-picking scheme, please email nfambassadors@newforestnpa.gov.uk.

More about tackling litter in the Forest is on our littering page.

New Forest Ambassador scheme

Report a problem page

Help record verge and gateway parking

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