North Ayrshire LitterLotto's first winners are announced
Posted on 24 Jun 2024
Father-of-three Dr Merry, from Ardrossan, was the April winner.
Retired doctor Allan Merry has turned his trash into cash by becoming North Ayrshire’s first LitterLotto £100 winner.
North Ayrshire Council has teamed up with partners to provide a free app called LitterLotto, which offers rewards to encourage people to bin litter responsibly.
The LitterLotto partnership, facilitated by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, offers users the chance to Bin it to win it! by winning a monthly prize and weekly jackpots.
The Council is working with Keep Scotland Beautiful on the 12-month pilot initiative, which aims to encourage residents and visitors to place their litter in a bin and develop habits to always dispose of their litter responsibly.
The app is designed to inspire North Ayrshire residents and visitors aged 13 and over, to bin their waste and pick up litter that has been dropped and help keep our communities and neighbourhoods looking good.
Father-of-three Dr Merry, from Ardrossan, was the April winner and heard about the project through his involvement with the Three Towns Clean Up Crew.
He explained: “I am one of the founder members of the Three Towns Clean Up Crew, which has a lot of activity in our area – the three towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston. I heard about LitterLotto via the group.
“I’m not sure what I will spend the money on.”
North Ayrshire’s App was launched on April 1. Throughout April and May, a total of 3365 items of rubbish were binned by app users.
It is simple to use, free to enter and all you need to do is:
- Be litter alert and take a photograph on your device or smart phone as you place your litter into a Council street litter bin and
- Wait to discover if you are the monthly prize draw winner – selected randomly - in North Ayrshire.
All litter counts, from a single disposable coffee cup to a takeaway meal box, and you can enter as often as you like as long as you are putting a different piece of litter into a North Ayrshire street litter bin.
A monthly cash prize of £100 is up-for-grabs in North Ayrshire, and every time you responsibly bin a piece of litter you get another entry into the LitterLotto UK-wide weekly jackpot of £1,000.
The £100 winner for May was Helen MacKinven, a regular visitor to the area from Falkirk, and she heard about the app through Facebook.
She will spend her winnings on garden plants and said: “I was in North Ayrshire in May on a trip to Cumbrae for a couple of days.
“I’ve visited Millport many times over the years with my family as we love the area. While I was there, I used the bins at Kames Bay.
“I use the app daily and would encourage other people to try it.”
Heather McLaughlin, Campaigns Coordinator at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “I’m delighted to see that Allan and Helen have been rewarded for doing the right thing through our partnership with LitterLotto and North Ayrshire Council.
“This collaboration is all about encouraging people to help tackle the country’s litter emergency and it’s brilliant to see people across the country continuing their efforts to keep Scotland beautiful.”
David Landsberg, founder and CEO of LitterLotto, added: “The team at LitterLotto and I are absolutely thrilled to work in partnership with North Ayrshire Council.
“We are two months into the campaign, and we can see that people are starting to become aware and make small changes that really do make a huge difference.
“If you keep binning litter and help to keep your neighbourhood clean and free of litter, you could be rewarded for doing so through our £1,000 weekly jackpot, the £100 local guaranteed jackpot and lots of prizes in the coin store. Thank you, North Ayrshire. Keep up the good work!”
Thomas Reaney, Head of Service for Neighbourhood Services at North Ayrshire Council, said: “It is encouraging to see that people are downloading the app and using it as they go about their daily business or visit the area. And it is great news that, since the launch in April, thousands of pieces of litter have been binned responsibly.”
You can download the app here: https://litterlotto.com/ or through your app store. You must be aged 13 or over to get involved. Prizes for users under 18 must be claimed through a parent or legal guardian.