More than 80 volunteers from BeachCare, the National Trust, Polzeath Marine Community Group and Sharp’s Brewery took part in a massive clean-up of Polzeath beach and the surrounding area, after a busy summer.
Braving the strong winds, people of all ages utilised equipment provided by BeachCare and spent more than two hours scouring the beach for litter.
BeachCare officer, Neil Hembrow, said: “So far this year, over 2,000 volunteers have removed 13 tonnes of litter, including 2,500 plastic bottles, from Cornish beaches, and the team on Saturday at Polzeath did an exceptional job.
“Thanks so much to everyone who turned out and helped with this ongoing task. Thanks also to Sharp’s Brewery for the pints at the end of the clean, and to Malcolm Barnecutts for the pasties, all of which were very much appreciated.”
The Sharp’s Brewery Beach Battalion is available throughout the year to help on jobs around the coast. Contact Neil Hembrow from BeachCare on BeachCareSouthWest@KeepBritainTidy.org for information on the beach cleans, to organise a clean, or necessary work on your beaches or around your local coastline. For further info on BeachCare and the Sharp’s Beach Clean Battalion activity go to www.facebook.com/beachcare
Throughout 2017, BeachCare has been offering its regular cleans, but can also provide dynamic beach cleaning skills for bigger jobs to coastal communities across the South West, in collaboration with the Sharp’s Beach Battalion. The Beach Battalion is a collaborative programme between the Army’s Outreach Team South West and Sharp’s Brewery as an extension of the brewery’s support for the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards.
Neil said: “We’re always delighted to have so many volunteers turn out for our regular cleans, however we’re also keen to hear from beaches and community projects across Devon and Cornwall who might need the extra help of us and / or the Sharp’s Beach Battalion. We are able to call on the Beach Battalion twice a month to get some especially tricky or heavy jobs done.
“We’re keen that people don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll continue this work right throughout the autumn and winter. We have more Blue Flag and Seaside Awards beach cleans coming up and we’d love to see as many people as possible joining us for these.”
James Nicholls, senior brand manager at Sharp’s Brewery, said: “With Sharp’s Brewery being based in Rock, North Cornwall, the coastline and our beaches are deeply important to us and we’re always keen to help wherever we possibly can. Polzeath is our local Blue Flag beach so it was great to see some of our team down there joining the efforts at the weekend.”
