Unsung heroes who have cleaned up Glasgow's communities, from the Gorbals to Garscadden, are to be honoured at a special ceremony.

The second annual Clean Glasgow Awards will recognise those who have donned gloves, litter pickers and bin bags to keep the city's streets tidy over the past year.

Launched in February 2007 with the support of the Evening Times, the £4million council-run initiative has seen a number of schemes extended in an attempt to rid a number of city areas of rubbish.

Thousands of litter louts have been fined and firms named and shamed in the battle to ride the city of its grimy image.

But Clean Glasgow also relies on dedicated individuals, community groups, schools and businesses to help tidy up areas blighted by rubbish.

How to nominate who you think has made a difference NOMINATING somebody for a Clean Glasgow award is easy. Decide which category is most appropriate: individuals, community groups, schools or businesses. Then write a bit about the person or group you want to nominate. What have they done for the Clean Glasgow cause during 2008 that is so special? Maybe they've arranged a litter pick in their street, cleaned up a scenic spot or removed graffiti. You can also say how they have inspired others to get involved in the campaign - and why what they've done is so important to the community. Community organisations and the public can nominate anyone who they think has contributed to make Glasgow a cleaner city. They do not need to have done the work-up as part of a Clean Glasgow event and individuals can nominate themselves if they believe they have made a difference. You can nominate online at www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/CleanGlasgow or write to Clean Glasgow Awards, Glasgow Community and Safety Services, 5th Floor, Westergate, 11 Hope Street, Glasgow, G2 6AB. The closing date is December 19 and the awards will be held on March 25.

The awards give Clean Glasgow bosses the chance to say thank you to people such as Jonathan McAllister, from Knightswood.

Last year the teenager won the Individual Award and was also Overall Winner for arranging clean-ups across the city.

School children also won praise for their efforts, with Lourdes Secondary in Cardonald winning Best Secondary for cleaning up its grounds and the surrounding area.

Vincent Raeburn, acting depute dead, said: "The fact we were the first school to win the award was a great achievement and we felt very proud. It really has raised awareness of the problem. All the pupils are now very aware of the problem and are taking pride in their school."

St Stephen's Primary, in Sighthill, won Best Primary for its efforts, which included donning fancy dress to raise awareness of its anti-litter campaign.

Notre Dame High School, Hollybrook Secondary, Whitehill Secondary and St Cuthbert's Primary were also recognised, while Friends of Drumchapel Woodland Group was one of the community award winners.

The group's chairman, Willie Forey, said: "It gave us the recognition for the amount of work we did.

"We removed more than 60 tons of rubbish from the wood, which made it safer for the community to use.

"After winning the Clean Glasgow Award we also won Scotland's Finest Wood 2008."

Killearn Training Centre, Friends of Beardmore Park, Pollokshields Quad and Friends of Govan C - which was set up to tidy up an eyesore spot in Carmichael Street - were also presented with awards from a team including Evening Times editor Donald Martin.

Clydesdale Bank took the Business Award for its work in cleaning up Drumchapel's Garscadden Wood.

City council leader Steven Purcell said: "Clean Glasgow is a campaign with a straightforward goal - to make our city and every neighbourhood within it a cleaner, safer place.

"It is built on a partnership with our communities and a shared responsibility for our environment, whether we are at home or school, at work or at play.

"The Clean Glasgow Awards recognise the huge contribution some of the people of this city are making to that partnership and to the campaign."

12,000 fined as war on grime gathers pace

MORE than 12,000 people have now been fined as part of Glasgow's war on grime.

The list of shame includes litter louts, illegal rubbish dumpers, big-name businesses and even children.

All have been caught as part of the no-nonsense Clean Glasgow campaign launched 20 months ago and backed by the Evening Times.

The drive to rid the city of rubbish began with neighbourhood charters which pledged to clean up communities.

Then a team of 32 uniformed enforcement officers hit the streets on the lookout for people dropping anything from an apple core to a piece of chewing gum.

By far the most common offence is discarding cigarette ends and anybody caught doing this is given a £50 fixed penalty fine.

There's no escape for those who refuse to pay with more than 900 court cases pending.

Warrants have also been issued for the arrest of those who fail to show for their court appearance.

And the Evening Times has named and shamed hundreds of the culprits.

This time last year the council set up the Clean Glasgow Business Charter which offered information on how to keep the streets clean and make the best of clean-up services for factories, restaurants, hotels and shops.

But even though almost 700 firms signed up to the charter a total of 2937 corporate culprits are now on the list of shame.

Dorothy Perkins, New Look, Dixons, and The Body Shop and banking giants HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Abbey plus local names such as the Rogano and Cafe Andaluz have been fined for leaving rubbish on the street. Some, such as Subway, Carphone Warehouse, McDonald's and Starbucks, were caught several times.

And a scheme to catch young litterbugs by placing CCTV outside schools was rolled out as part of the campaign. It caught 200 youngsters and some teachers.

Kids are given the option of doing a community clean-up as the fines cannot be enforced for under 16s.