Civic Pride

Civic pride simply means being proud of where you live. And helping to keeping your favourite places looking good is something everyone should be involved in. Aside from it being great for the environment, taking positive action and feeling pleased about your local surroundings not only helps you to feel connected to an area, but can also help you to feel more positive as you go about your daily life.

This is because how an area looks affects how we feel and behave. If, for instance, you feel that you live in a dump, it’s probably because people treat it that way. Litter piling up, abandoned cars and vandalism all go towards making areas feel depressed and miserable, which can then have the affect of making you feel and behave that way too. But if you live somewhere that looks clean and feels safe it’s more likely to make you feel happier about living there. Simple!

What’s your area like?

To improve your local area and feel more positive about where you live, start by thinking about what’s making you feel less than proud of your environment.

• Is the place a bit of a mess?
• Is it a dumping ground for other’s people’s rubbish?
• Is it a place that suffers from vandalism?

Take action

If this sounds familiar, don’t give in to it and become part of the problem: take the initiative and do something positive!

• If there's litter in the park that’s bugging you, or shopping trolleys abandoned where you hang out, get together with your friends and family and take action.
• Talk to the council and get the rubbish taken away. Most councils will remove fly tipping and abandoned vehicles in 24 hours.
• Try and change the behaviour of your friends and family. Do the people you know help to maintain the areas you use, or do they make a bad situation worse?
• Be practical: write a list of what would improve your local environment - better street lighting, more bins, or simple repairs.
• Find out who’s responsible for the area (the council, a park trust?) and ask them to do something about it.
• Lastly, help make your special place more special. Think about what it would take to improve your personal much-loved spot – new seating, a good clean up, new plants or some money for new equipment? Though small, all these things can make a massive difference to your life and the lives of other people that you know.

We all have the power to make a difference. So get involved by taking part in the Scotland in Focus competition and win a grant to transform your environment for the better!