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Over the last 20 years we’ve made huge progress in making our beaches and bathing waters cleaner.
In 1988 only 18% of our bathing waters met minimum standards, in 2016 this was 100%.
Below is information on how we got there and how we’ll keep it that way…

Leave only paw prints!

It’s official! The bathing water season is over! This may be sad news for swimmers and it means that we have to finally admit that summer is over, but it’s good news for our furry friends who are now allowed back on the beaches!

Dog bans are in place on many beaches along the North West coast during the bathing water season, but once it’s over, we can start walking our pooches on sand once again.

So at this time of year, we like to remind everyone to pick up after their dogs and leave only paw prints.

Here are some doggy facts to inspire you to buy some poo bags and make sure you have them with you whenever you go to the beach!

27% of the population in the North Wets own a dog. That’s 852,000 households.
In 2017, there were 1,110,000 dogs in the NW.
There are 8 million dogs in the UK and they create 1000 tonnes of dog mess every day.
There are enough E.coli bacteria in one dog poo to contaminate an Olympic size swimming pool (around 3 million litres of water).
A single gram of dog poo can contain up to 23 million faecal coliform bacteria!
Dog waste can also spread parasites such as hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, ringworms, tapeworms, Parvovirus and Salmonella.

Our beaches have something for everyone!

Check out our amazing video about this year’s Active Coast programme!

We have won £2k from Tesco Bags of Help!

LOVEmyBEACH is delighted to announce it has bagged £2,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £79 million to over 26,000 local community projects.

Millions of shoppers have voted in Tesco stores up and down the country and it can now be revealed LOVEmyBEACH has been awarded £2,000.

Work will now begin on bringing the project to life!

Our 2 Minute Beach Clean Boards are free-standing A-boards that provide litter pickers and bags for people walking by so that they can pick some litter for a few minutes before carrying on with their day.

Zephie Begolo, Campaign Manager for LOVEmyBEACH commented: “We are thrilled to receive this grant from Tesco Bags of Help and are very grateful to everyone who voted for us. This award will pay for four new beach clean boards, which means less litter and cleaner beaches along the Fylde Coast.

“The great thing about the boards is that it makes litter picking easy. We can all play our part in keeping our beaches clean and safe, even if it’s only taking two minutes out of your day. This grant will make a big difference to the coastline and will encourage people to take their litter home with them.”

Voting ran in stores throughout May and June with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout.

Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups each time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding.

Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said: “Bags of Help contributes funds to community projects up and down the country and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers voting in their local stores. We’re looking forward to seeing more projects brought to life.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said: “Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

In addition, to mark Tesco’s 100th year, they have announced two special voting rounds, Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grants, taking place in store now with larger grant amounts available over wider geographic regions. Please look online for more information on if they can support your group either through the normal Bags of Help vote or Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grants and don’t forget to vote in store!

To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.

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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.