Day 075 - 17 Jan 95 - Page 08

     
     1        publicity that we receive and that they receive is a proper
     2        balance.
     3
     4   Q.   Is there any sense (and I choose my words carefully) in
     5        which you feel that McDonald's participation in your
     6        activities is a mere publicity stunt?
     7        A.  No, I do not think that is the case.  I think if they
     8        were to engage in mere publicity stunts there are other
     9        ways in which they would be more able to do that.
    10
    11   Q.   Perhaps I can ask you this:  If you believed or suspected
    12        that McDonald's were merely exploiting the activities of
    13        your group for publicity purposes, would you continue to
    14        work with them or not?
    15        A.  Absolutely not.  It is a matter of principle laid down
    16        really by my Council and my Managing Committee that we
    17        should not accept sponsorship or support from any
    18        organisation whose environmental, if you like, concerns are
    19        not consistent with ours, and if I felt, if we felt that
    20        they were simply using it for publicity purposes we would
         not be able or willing to continue to have that
    22        relationship.  We have, in fact, in relation to other
    23        companies declined sponsorship offers for those sorts of
    24        reasons.
    25
    26   Q.   I am going to come to trash walks last or environment/index.html">litter patrols
    27        last.  Can you turn to the third page of your written
    28        statement, please, Professor Ashworth, and look at
    29        paragraph 11?  Can you tell us what this programme, "Bin it
    30        for Britain", actually consists of, how does it work?
    31        A.  One of the concerns and problems that we have within
    32        the Tidy Britain Group is conveying a message to the
    33        younger generation about the importance of disposing of
    34        surplus waste materials properly.  We devised a programme
    35        that was meant to be fun, something which would engage the
    36        interest of younger people by creating a kind of street
    37        game.  What is involved here is that they participate in a
    38        game which involves them in tossing things into a bin.
    39
    40        During that process there is a DJ or a Master of Ceremonies
         talking about what they are doing and encouraging them to
    42        realise that what they are doing in this game is a pattern
    43        of what they ought to be doing with their waste and surplus
    44        material normally.  If they are successful in tossing a
    45        significant number of things into the bin, then they
    46        receive a prize.  We hope that this is a part of the
    47        process whereby people who are notoriously difficult to
    48        engage in terms of interest in this kind of thing are
    49        attracted.
    50 
    51   Q.   It has been going since when, that programme? 
    52        A.  1991, I think, was the first year that it was started. 
    53
    54   Q.   Is it a costly exercise?
    55        A.  Yes, it is to organise a tour which really takes place
    56        over the period of summer months in 25 different centres
    57        and to ensure that that is properly done.
    58
    59   Q.   Does McDonald's make any contribution to this scheme?
    60        A.  Yes, they fund it wholly.  It is not supported