Litter Free Coast and Sea and Clean Jurassic Coast joined together to hold the annual Great Dorset Beach Clean over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd May.
19 beach cleans, hosted by local organisations and community groups, including Dorset Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and Leave Only Footprints, took place from Lyme Regis all the way along to Christchurch.
328 volunteers took part in the clean ups collecting 165 bags of rubbish including tyres, buried rusty lobster pots, tents, oil drums and a gazebo.
“At the last event in 2019 we collected 214 bags. There are obviously lots of factors at play but could our beaches be getting cleaner?! We hope so! Unfortunately, due to Covid, we had to cancel last year’s GDBC event so it has been brilliant to be able to bring it back again this year. As a result of the bad weather, a couple of this year’s events had to be cancelled but overall the timing was perfect as lots of help was on hand to collect up the debris that had washed in from the big winds we all experienced the Friday before the weekend. We are hugely grateful to everyone that came along and joined in and a big thank you goes out to our volunteer beach clean leaders,” explained Carla Roberts-Owen from Litter Free Coast and Sea and lead organiser of the event.
Litter Free Coast and Sea are now calling for all local residents and visitors to continue to take their litter home or use the bin when they visit Dorset’s beaches this summer. “We have some of the best beaches and bathing waters in the country that we want locals and visitors to be able to enjoy. Thanks to everyone for looking after our wonderful coast” added Carla.
If you want to get involved in joining in with or leading beach cleans throughout the year then get in touch with the team to find out more. All contact details can be found on our website at: www.litterfreecoastandsea.co.uk
