GOOD manners, politeness, respect and courtesy may all be terms that seem to belong to a bygone age.

But a national charity is campaigning to reinstate them and what they stand for at the heart of British society.

And the National Campaign for Courtesy is asking members of the public to join in by nominating towns for its annual Courtesy Top Town Award.

The charity’s membership secretary, treasurer and West Midlands (Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire) executive Liz Hall explained that she is inviting local residents to submit entries for her region.

The aim is to reward places where various organisations, such as the local council, police, tourism, business and even volunteer groups, have worked together to create an attractive, friendly, clean and inviting area to both live and visit.

Shrewsbury won the accolade last year. “The reason Shrewsbury won the award last year is because it has an integrated system involving the council, police, street pastors and other services. Everyone promotes the town by what they do.”

Once nominations have been received, executives from the charity make unannounced visits at the height of the tourism season to judge each of the towns and see first-hand how the town’s services cope with extra people.

“It is always hardest to keep the town clean in the middle of summer and we want to see how they cope with the extra people.

“We look to see whether the council and the tourist office help local businesses to give their best. Do they run an award scheme recognising the best businesses? Are all these services working hard to make sure the visitors are happy so they come back again?

“We are particularly looking at street cleanliness and the way the services work to keep crime to a minimum and address it.

“In Shrewsbury they have street pastors and they also have volunteer litter spotters. If they see litter is becoming a problem in a certain place, they call a team of other volunteers who quickly turn up and tidy up the mess.”

The top issues the campaign executive will assess are:

• Littering

• Swearing in public – residents and staff employed by local businesses

• Spitting in public

• Inconsiderate driving and parking

• Binge drinking and drinking in public generally

• Public transport and addressing bad behaviour

• Bad service in shops

• Mobile phone abuse

“One of the things that drives me round the bend is when I go into a shop and the till staff don’t look me in the face and make eye contact,” said Liz.

Anyone who would like to nominate a local town they think deserves the Courtesy Top Town Award for 2015 should e-mail Liz for a form at lizhall100@btinternet.com

The National Campaign for Courtesy was established in 1986 by the Rev Ian Gabriel Gregory and businessman Gerry Hanson and was originally called The Polite Society.

A couple in the congregation at Rev Gregory’s church - the Congregational Church, Basford, near Stoke-on-Trent – had returned to Britain after living in Singapore for two years and remarked, with astonishment, how unpleasant people were compared to the courtesy which greeted them in the Far East.

The campaign - which works to promote courtesy, good manners, respect and reject anti social behaviour in the UK - now has about 2,000 members and some high profile patrons including singer and TV presenter Moira Anderson, former England women’s cricket captain and broadcaster Baroness Rachael Heyho-Flint, comedian Roy Hudd, actress June Witfield, radio presenter David Hamilton and explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell.

For more information about the campaign visit http://campaignforcourtesy.org.uk/