Islington estates get grants to spruce up streets

Boris Johnson has launched a £50,000 effort to spruce-up the city for summer – with one Finsbury estate getting a cheque to tidy up its streets.

Grants have been given to numerous projects in the borough through the Mayor of London’s Capital Clean-up initiative, including the tenant management organisation (TMO) in Quaker Court, off Banner Street, Finsbury, which received a cheque to help clean up litter on its estate.

Heidi Bimpong, chairman of the Quaker Court TMO, said: “As a community-led organisation, we take pride in our estate, but it’s a busy area and keeping the standard that residents deserve is a constant job.

“We’ll use the grant for the difficult-to-reach bits of Quaker Court and want to use the day as a way of involving residents in looking after their environment.”

Large stretches of the borough’s canal space will also be getting a makeover, thanks to a £1,200 grant and a clean-up kit.

Mr Johnson said: “These welcome ‘facelifts’ to some of London’s grubbier corners are enabling Londoners to help make their city a greener, smarter and even better place to be.”