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Covid Restrictions on Lancashire Volunteer Groups

Following the Government’s announcement on new restrictions this week, Keep Britain Tidy and LOVEmyBEACH have decided we will not be supporting litter picks and beach cleans in mixed groups from different households in Lancashire.

We will continue to support volunteers litter picking in family groups, support bubbles or on your own.

Since we resumed beach cleans in June, we have been operating in small groups of 6 and maintaining 2m social distancing requirements. Some groups are still not operating at this capacity and have been volunteering independently. Other groups which are not insured with LOVEmyBEACH are also operating independently and it falls to these groups to make a decision on group beach cleans.

It is not against the law to meet in groups outdoors, but given higher levels of infections, it is the advice of the Director of Public Health in Lancashire not to mix between households.

We strongly advise all beach clean groups to follow Government and LOVEmyBEACH advice and refrain from going out in groups outside of your own household or support bubble.

We will continue to monitor the situation and keep up-to-date with the latest Government advice. We will inform you of any changes going forward.

For any questions about this please email zephie.begolo@keepbritaintidy.org

Meet our new officer!

We are very excited to introduce you to our new LOVEmyBEACH Officer for Morecambe and Cumbria, Anya Kuliszewski!

Anya grew up near Arnside and Silverdale so is very familiar with Morecambe and Cumbria. She is a passionate environmentalist and is joining us from the National Trust, having been the Visitor Experience Manager at Sticklebarn and Langdale, where she managed the day-to-day running of the site, as well as all of their events and communications!

Before working for the National Trust, she worked for the RSPB and has put the environment, wildlife and public engagement at the heart of all her work, meaning she will be right at home with LOVEmyBEACH.

Anya will be based at Morecambe Bay Partnership and is already getting out on the beach to meet all our fantastic volunteers, so be sure to say hello if you bump into her.

We are so pleased to have her on the team and hope you will offer her a warm welcome to LOVEmyBEACH!

Volunteers urge families to take their plastic beach toys home

In just 3 months, the St Annes LOVEmyBEACH volunteers have collected an astonishing 133 plastic beach toys that were left on the beach! Now the beach cleaners are urging families to take their toys home rather than leave them behind.

The volunteers collect the toys, alongside other litter, to prevent them from entering the ocean and harming marine life. Rather than send the toys to landfill, they have been cleaned and donated to a local charity, Park View 4U, to extend their life and put the items to good use.

The St Annes North Beach Care group noticed two summers ago, how many toys they were collecting during their weekly beach cleans. Almost all remained in perfect working order and had no reason to be disposed of.

Michael Pearson, group leader says, “Rather than add to the growing amount of waste heading to landfill, we decided to save the buckets, spades and plastic shapes knowing they could be reused. It is a joint effort between the two beach clean groups in St Annes and we are very happy to support local charities working with children.”

Last year the toys were donated to Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s marine project and this year to Park View 4U, as both local charities work with children on environmental projects.

Unfortunately for the environment, a set of plastic beach toys can be picked up very cheaply at a pound store. Many families now seem to view taking the toys home as an inconvenience, instead choosing to leave them behind on the beach. Our concern is that people are viewing them as a disposable, single use item, rather than something that should be saved for future beach visits.

Plastic buckets, spades and toys are made of PVC, a type of plastic which is difficult to recycle and could take up over 450 years to break down in landfill.

Dave Foreman, St Annes North volunteer adds, “It’s not only the toys themselves that are a problem, they all come wrapped in further plastic and we are frequently picking up the netted packaging and tags that have been ripped off and left.”

The LOVEmyBEACH message for beach users is simple, when you visit the beach leave only footprints. This not only means dispose of you litter responsibly, but also take away any items which can be reused or recycled.

In the case of plastic toys, throwing them away is not the answer. Instead, reuse them on your next visit or pass them on to another family that could make use of them.

If you would like to find out how else you can help at the beach, take a look here.

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Water quality

The Environment Agency monitors bathing waters – stretches of sea or lake where many people swim and paddle – to assess whether they meet the strict standards of the European Bathing Water Directive. The standards are set to protect public health and the environment from pollution.

The Environment Agency takes 20 water samples at each bathing water between May and September each year and post the information online: http://environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/

The samples are tested for certain types of bacteria: escherichia coli (E.coli) and intestinal enterococci, which are not directly harmful but indicate the presence of pollution. The bacteria are found in the intestines of animals and humans and pass through the body in poo. High levels of bacteria = poor water quality.

However, the water may be cleaner on the actual day you visit the beach, as the quality can change, particularly after heavy rain washes pollution into rivers and the sea. Look out for daily forecasts at some beaches.

Each beach is also given an annual classification. From 2015 this is based on sample results over the previous four years, e.g. 2015 results use data from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. 2016 results use data from 2013 to 2016 and so on. The classifications are:

Excellent

The standard is the highest, cleanest class

Good

Generally good water quality

Sufficient

The water meets the minimum standards

Poor

Bathing is not advised at this beach as water quality has not met sufficient standards

If a bathing water is classed as Poor, you are advised not to bathe because samples taken over the previous four years have been affected by pollution. This does not mean the beach is closed – you can still enjoy everything the beach has to offer.

If a water sample has high levels of bacteria, analysis is done to estimate* the sources of pollution and work is planned in the area to improve water quality. When this work is significant and is expected to help improve bathing water quality, the four years of data for the annual classification starts from the time the work is completed and sample data from before the work are not included. This is called step change.

*Estimates are based on computer modelling, DNA analysis, and knowledge of the local area. The estimates can never be perfect because pollution to bathing waters changes from day to day depending on the season, the tides and the weather.