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St Annes North Beach Care Group collect 1 TONNE of litter in just 6 months thanks to LOVEmyBEACH volunteers

The St Annes North LOVEmyBEACH BeachCare group have collected a tonne of litter in just 6 months. Taking their total collected to an astonishing three tonnes since the group began in April 2018.

This is the equivalent of ten grey seals, 20 common dolphins or a transit van!

By Thursday 9th January 2020, the total had tipped over 3,000 kg when the group weighed the rubbish they removed from the beach, as they do after each weekly beach clean. Some 245 volunteers have worked tirelessly in St Annes to pick up litter from the beaches that otherwise would find itself in the ocean, harming the environment and wildlife.

This week was a momentous occasion as they reached the three-tonne mark, but is also a stark reminder that our behaviour has a huge impact on our beaches and seas.

Mike Hamblett, a weekly beach clean volunteer said: “I feel a combination of pride that we have achieved the three-tonne mark. But also a sense of disappointment with humankind that it was there to be removed in the first place.”

Dave Foreman, another volunteer added: “When I moved to St Annes three years ago, this stretch of beach was noticeably different. The weekly cleans have reduced the amount of litter on the beach and people now comment on how clean it looks.”

The St Annes North group of roughly eight weekly volunteers, were joined by 245 extra volunteers during 2019. The St Annes North group is unique compared to the other Fylde Coast beach clean groups, as they take out many additional groups of volunteers. During 2019, the weekly volunteers were joined by 34 corporate, school or youth groups.

These are companies, groups or schools who enquire with LOVEmyBEACH wanting to get involved and help the local environment and community. During 2019, the St Annes North volunteers were joined by groups from Natwest, Lloyds Bank, Co-Op, the Environment Agency and United Utilities amongst others.

They also welcome young people who want to take part in a beach clean and have been joined by Police Cadets, Duke of Edinburgh students, and Highfield School, who bring a class each month.

Emily Parr, Fylde’s LOVEmyBEACH Officer commented: “The St Annes North Beach Care group have removed a significant amount of litter from the beach due to the dedication of the local volunteers, who return each week. These volunteers have also welcomed 34 different groups to join their weekly beach clean. Particular thanks must go to Michael Pearson, the group leader, who makes all the arrangements.

The weekly volunteers are offering the opportunity for a much wider variety of people to take part in a beach clean and to see first-hand the negative impacts of our everyday behaviours. Not only have the volunteers physically made a significant impact, but the feedback I receive from these groups shows their beach clean experience has really resonated with them and inspired them to take further action.”

The St Annes group meet every Thursday at 10am in North Beach Car Park, St Annes and are out rain or shine. They clean the beach for two hours and new volunteers and groups are very welcome. Details of this and other beach cleans across the North West can be found here.

We would like to wish all our supporters and their families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And we would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has come out on beach cleans and helped to protect our beaches, oceans and wildlife by taking action, whether it’s on the coast or at home! Every action, from only flushing the 3 P’s to picking up litter, makes a big difference. Thank you for being part of the solution!

We have had a fantastic and very busy year protecting the coast along the North West and below are some of the highlights! We also have some tips for having a plastic-free Christmas. Watch this space for some exciting news on new campaigns and projects in 2020!

Remember, you can help to protect your oceans even when you’re at home! #DontFeedAFatberg this Christmas by disposing of your fats, oils and greases by leaving them to cool and scraping them into the bin!

2019 Highlights

Our amazing volunteers work tirelessly and go out in all weathers to help protect our oceans and wildlife and to keep our beaches safe and clean. We have removed a whopping 9 tonnes of litter from the coast this year in Fylde, Morecambe Bay and Cumbria alone! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part!

Volunteer Awards

It’s not just us who think our LOVEmyBEACH volunteers are amazing. The Fylde Coast volunteers won two awards this year, in recognition for their incredible beach cleaning efforts. They were named Local Heroes by Blackpool Tower and were treated to an afternoon tea awards ceremony in the iconic ball room and they were highly commended in BBC Radio Lancashire’s Community Project of the Year!

Active Coast 2019

This year’s Active Coast Programme spanned the whole of the North West Coast, with activities going on for all ages, abilities and interests. We had five new categories including Arts & Culture, Community, Environment, Sport and Walk & Relaxation, which shows that our beaches have something for everyone! We had over 300 activities going on along the whole of the coast with hundreds of people taking part.

Watch the Active Coast video on YouTube

Next year’s Active Coast is going to be bigger and better and since it’s the Olympics in 2020, will have an Olympic theme!

LOVEmyBEACH won £2k in Tesco Bags of Help Grant Scheme!

LOVEmyBEACH was awarded £2,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help Community Grant Scheme! This money will go towards four new 2 Minute Beach Clean Boards for the Fylde Coast, which means cleaner beaches and seas!

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who went down to their local Tesco and voted for us! 

Watch this space for more exciting campaigns and projects in 2019!

This Christmas millions of people will be preparing a traditional roast dinner and other festive food for friends and family.

Like us, I’m sure you’ll agree that the best part of a festive meal is the washing up. No? Maybe that’s just us then …!

Much time and effort goes into preparing, cooking and eating a roast dinner, but there’s not many of us who like to spend much time clearing up afterwards. In a bid to make light work of the dishes after overindulging, how many of us will take a shortcut and pour leftover fat, oil or grease down the kitchen sink?

This Christmas LOVEmyBEACH is supporting #BinIt4Beaches and #LoveWater by reminding people of the impact of fats, oils and grease going down the sink instead of into the proper bin and how easy it is to avoid this.

Pouring waste liquids down the sink may seem like the obvious way to dispose of them, but tipping leftover fat, meat juices and food scraps down the sink could be harmful to the environment. Even if you pour hot water and washing up liquid in afterwards, fats, oils and grease can quickly set hard in cold pipes and when mixed with other unflushable items such as wet wipes and sanitary products, can create a fatberg.

When fatbergs form in the sewerage pipes they stop the waste water reaching the treatment works as intended. This means the risk of sewage spilling out into homes, streets, rivers and seas is substantially increased.

Did you know that before the 1950s, turkeys were considered a luxury? Since then refrigerators became more common place and turkeys more widely available. The majority of families now serve up a succulent roast turkey as the centrepiece for Christmas dinner. Last Christmas the UK consumed around 10 million turkeys and it’s estimated that for every 1 million turkeys cooked, around 250 tonnes of fats and oils could find their way into drains. That’s as much as 40 elephants heading down our sewers!

But avoiding a festive fatberg this Christmas is really simple and need not take up much time with these easy steps:

1. Scrape or pour leftover fat from roasting trays and pans into a heat resistant container then it can be reused or bin it once cooled
2. Wipe out grease left in pans with kitchen roll before washing
3. Use a sink strainer to catch any greasy food scraps

Many partners will be helping to spread good cheer for the environment this Christmas and promoting these steps through their social media channels over the festive period. One of those partners is Sainsbury’s and from 16 December will be displaying in-store information cards next to their Christmas produce promoting these steps.

So, please spend a few minutes longer cleaning the dishes and help ensure the environment is left a healthier place for everyone to enjoy in 2020 and beyond!

And what better way to walk off the Christmas dinner than taking a stroll along your local beach?!