Clear up

Litter is not just offensive to look at; it causes a number of problems too. Papers blown up against a fence on a dry day can provide or become a source of fuel for a fire ignited a discarded cigarette. Remaining foodstuffs can attract vermin. Discarded bottles, tins, wire and string etc. can seriously harm people wildlife and farm animals.

Litter

No matter how well organised the event, there will be litter. No doubt in negotiating for the use of the site, you agreed to leave it in a tidy state after the event.

Some landowners demand a deposit from an event organiser that is returned if the site is clean, but retained and used to tidy and repair the site if that has not been done to their satisfaction.

Don’t leave a mess. Aim to be tidy and look after the site as though it was your own – supplying an adequate numbers of bins and skips will keep general litter under control. Remember, you may want to come back and run the event next year, especially if it has been a success. (Yes – planning and negotiation for next year’s event starts here!)

Staff usually don’t like picking up litter, but you may be able to offer some cash to the local youth club, or army cadets to form a litter-picking gang.

Paper

Remember to work with the wind. If it is blowing left to right, start on the left margin of the site and work towards the right. Stray bits of litter will blow ahead of you. Don’t try to work against the wind, you will forever be chasing litter that blows past you into the clean area you just picked.

Glass/tins

Make sure that all litter picking staff have stout gloves. I suggest if young people are being used, adults (car park staff for example) should supervise them, and if any broken glass or tins are found, they should call an adult who is properly equipped to deal with it. Put broken glass and jagged tins into a sturdy container and place that container carefully into the skips provided.

Manure

Animal exhibits may leave manure heaps. Perhaps you failed to ensure that you required animal exhibitors to tidy up after themselves. If there is a deposit of manure a local gardener or allotment society may just be persuaded to come and claim the manure and reduce your headache. If not and you have no alternative, put a skip near the manure and dispose of it. (If you forgot to arrange for animal exhibitors to their own manure, when you have finished forking seven tons of manure into the skip, you won’t make the same mistake next year.)

Food stuffs

Waste food is difficult to deal with. It attracts rats and other vermin and is subject to many rules and regulations as to its storage and disposal. I suggest that if at all possible when negotiating for food outlets, you arrange for them to deal with their own waste.

If you are responsible for disposing of food waste, ensure that you abide by local rules and regulations.

Skips

You will probably have to hire some skips or other containers to collect and remove rubbish. If you do hire skips, the company will deliver them to the site and collect them when full

Equipment collection and return

You have the end in sight, but you must make sure that in your rush to clear up and go home that you efficiently administer the collection and return of any equipment that was rented, loaned or issued. Any radios that you have been using must be signed back in and then returned to the hiring company. Any generators, temporary fencing, furniture, or red and white traffic cones that you have been using could easily be lost in the confusion. Remember to ensure your own security while you are maintaining security for visitors to the site.

Repairs – turf and fences

It is possible that some damage has been done to turf in fields. Remember to cover the subject of damage to turf, fences and hedges when organising for the loan or hire of the land, and make sure that you know who is responsible for repairing it.

Whether the damage is down to you to repair or not, you should make every effort to prevent any damage to the turf or anything else on the site. Remember that you probably want to come back again next year and you don’t want members of the public falling into ruts in the grass and breaking bones.

If you do have to repair turf, the area damaged may be larger than expected. If so it could be a case of forget the rake and wheelbarrow and rent a tractor or digger. It is likely that the farmer has the equipment needed to level and re-seed a section of grass anyway, so if at all possible make turf repair their responsibility, without insisting so loudly that you frighten them into refusing to rent you the field.

Roll call

Just to make absolutely sure that you have not left some poor soul in some remote emergency access gate, do a roll call. Make sure that all staff have been debriefed, thanked, stood down and sent home. As Event Manager, I always make a final tour of all points to make sure that staff have gone and gates are locked etc.

Final tour

When satisfied that the site is clear, make a final tour around it yourself and when you are satisfied, contact the landowner and make a tour together to show that the site is tidy and returned to its previous state. Possibly take another video record of the site after the event and include the landowner agreeing that all is as it should be.