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Beach cleaning

Date started: 
19 November 2011
Geographic region : 
South East
Geographic region : 
England
Geographic region : 
United Kingdom
Last updated: Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Related initiatives: 
Hythe
Related Transition Stage: 
Connecting
Contact Project
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Project Aim

The aim has been to clean the beach, per se, but also to raise awareness of the build-up of rubbish on our beaches and elsewhere in the area and to persuade the council to improve its clean-up responsibilities, including extending cleaning of the beach to twelve months of the year. 

Further details

Transition Hythe organised the first of a series of local cleaning projects for Saturday 19th November. This was for the beach at Hythe, from 9.30am to midday. The beach certainly needed a clean, with the Council's own efforts only running from April to September. One planned outcome was to put pressure on the Council to extend its cleaning of the beach to twelve months of the year. The local press were informed of the project and provided coverage in advance on the clean-up and both sent photographers on the day.

The first session went very well, aided by lovely sunshine, with 22 in attendance and a lot of interest in future sessions from the many people out enjoying the unseasonal weather. The press duly obliged, with photos and write-ups in each of the main local papers. A second clean-up was arranged for Saturday 19th December, and they have become monthly events since then. Other clean-ups have moved away from the beach and in the first six months we had over 100 people involved. 

Inspiration

The sheer amount of rubbish that was accumulating on the beach. And it was really easy to organise.

Outcomes so far

It was excellent to have 22 volunteers, of all ages, for the first session and numbers have increased since then. It has also been a great way of spreading the word (see under 'Unexpected Outcomes') and we have had good coverage before and after the events in the local press, including photos.

Unexpected outcomes

Unexpectedly, this turned out to be a great way to spread the word about Transition Hythe. The first two were on a beautiful, sunny mornings, so plenty of people were out along the promenade. Quite a few stopped to chat and ask about future clean-ups as they wanted to be involved. In the future we might do posters and/or information sheets. We made new friends, including the Council's community safety officer, who has provided equipment and bags and has spent teach of the sessions with us. There was also a lovely gesture from the owner of the kiosk on the seafront of free drinks for all the volunteers.

Obstacles, and how we overcame them

 We have lucky to have good weather for each session to date. Bad weather might be a hurdle. 

Lessons Learned

To have information available for anyone that asks.

Links and Partnerships

We have had excellent support from Shepway District Council's community safety officer, Giles, providing bags, litter pickers, and arranging for the bags to be collected. He has also mucked in for each clean-up and has been joined by another colleague as well.

Sources of Funding

None required.

Contacts

Primary point of contact: 
Martin Whybrow
Themes: 
Education
Themes: 
Health

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