A big ‘thank you' to beach cleaning volunteers!

On Sunday 15 April, record numbers of volunteers took part in the biggest ever Great Dorset Beach Clean. In total, over 700 volunteers removed unsightly plastics and other debris from the shores of 22 beaches, stretching from Lyme Regis to Christchurch.
 
This year hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers from across Dorset gave up a few hours on Sunday to help remove more than 800 sacks of litter - that's enough rubbish to fill about 4 double-decker buses!  This litter not only makes our beaches look unattractive, but can be a safety issue for visitors, birds and marine life 

Much of the litter consisted of fishing nets and lines as well as a range of plastic containers - all of which if not removed by hand would remain on our beaches for years. 

Bridget Betts, Dorset Coast Forum Coordinator, says: ‘The number of people who turned out to do their bit was amazing.  With the sun shining down there was almost a party atmosphere with locals, visitors and children taking part.  We would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who took part, as well as all the beach masters at each beach, Travis Perkins who donated gloves and bags, Symphony Environmental Ltd for the biodegradable bags and the waste services who collected the 800 bags of rubbish.

This year there was an additional interest in the beach clean following the recent grounding of the MSC Napoli off Branscombe in Devon, and debris that is likely to be from the Napoli was found in a number of places.  However, the main volume of rubbish collected over the short period of the beach clean was from other sources and only emphasises the continuing issue of marine debris which is estimated to have increase by 80% in the last ten years*. Originating from beach users, fishing and shipping activity, clearly more must be done to educate marine and coastal users about the impacts of disposing of litter and industrial waste irresponsibly'.

As well as the individual volunteers, some local companies also played their part in helping with the clean up. Dorchester based Dorset Cereals were on hand at Chesil Cove to supply volunteers with a well earned, free breakfast which seemed to be much appreciated by the hungry volunteers

This year the Great Dorset Beach Clean has been organised by Dorset Coast Forum and Durlston Marine Project in conjunction with Dorset County Council's Countryside Service and supported by West Dorset and Purbeck District Councils. The event plays a vital role in protecting and improving the appearance of Dorset's beaches.

* Marine Conservation Society figures

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For further information, contact Durlston Marine Project on (01929) 424443