Office staff with be swapping their suits for overalls as they work to spruce up the neighbourhood where they work.

Staffordshire Housing Association’s Good Neighbours campaign will see Chief Executive Diane Lea and her staff litter picking and tidying the streets around the West End and Boothen areas of Stoke on Friday, 5 August.

Skips will also be provided by the Housing Association so that householders can dispose of their bulky waste items free of charge.

Litter picking sessions will be held between 11am and 2pm and will be followed by an afternoon of games, sports and a barbeque at the Boothen Neighbourhood Centre, Stoke, from 3pm until 5pm.

Staffordshire Housing Association is staging the event along with SWOCA (Stoke West and Oakhill Community Association).

“Staffordshire Housing Association (SHA) moved to our new offices in the West End of Stoke in early 2011 and have been made very welcome,” said Diane Lea.

“We are a community based organisation and always strive to be good neighbours – but on Friday (5 August) we will go the extra mile to help out.”

Patrols of Staffordshire Housing Association staff will be going out in shifts throughout the day. Litter will be picked up and issues such as graffiti and vandalism will be noted and reported to Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Skips will be hired by Staffordshire Housing Association and placed at convenient points around the area and on the car park of the SHA offices off London Road, Stoke.

Marg Hardcastle, Chair of SWOCA, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Staffordshire Housing Association on this initiative which will help to clean up the area and bring people and their communities closer together.”

Staffordshire Housing Association is among the area’s biggest social landlords owning and managing around 2,800 homes in the North Staffordshire area.

The association runs an annual good neighbour competition where people living in SHA properties can nominate community spirited neighbours for an award.

ENDS

For further information contact Sandra Barber on 01782 744533.