Volunteers urgently needed to give beaches a clean sweep this autumn

As summer draws to a close Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are calling for 200 people, community groups, schools and local businesses across the UK to run their own beach cleans during the week of October 24-30.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Sep 2016, 16:51 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 23:34 BST
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SUS-160413-180046001

Together, these inspiring ‘Autumn Beach Clean Series ‘Lead Volunteers’ provide their coastal community with the opportunity to protect their favourite beaches and to join a growing national movement calling for dramatic action to halt the marine litter crisis.

Set to be the biggest Autumn Beach Clean Series ever, SAS expect over 4500 volunteers to join their local Lead Volunteer to sweep over 15 TONNES of marine litter from 200 beaches across the UK coastline during the week long event.

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Dom Ferris, SAS Projects Manager says marine litter is probably the most significant threat to our oceans today. “It is an environmental problem on a global scale and adversely impacts wildlife, the economy and human health,” he said.

“Every stretch of coastline in every ocean is affected by marine litter, it is present through all layers of water, floating at the surface, suspended in the water column and of course, washed up on our beaches.

“There may be around 5.25 trillion macro and microplastic pieces floating in the open ocean - weighing up to 269,000 tonnes!

“Marine Litter is a man-made problem yet has detrimental impact on the environment and the wildlife that encounters it. At least 267 different marine species have suffered as a consequence of contact with marine litter. There is no doubt that more must be done by each and every one of us and SAS intend to lead from the front.”

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SAS are working with The Crown Estate for the 6th consecutive year as the Autumn Beach Clean Series plays a vital role in addressing this marine litter crisis by uniting and inspiring coastal communities to take action to protect their beaches.

Volunteers organising Autumn Beach Clean Series will be provided with an organisers guide, posters, digital Autumn Beach Clean Series artwork, heavy duty gloves and degradable bin bags.

Dom added: “Five incredible years of the Autumn Beach Clean Series has enabled almost 8500 amazing volunteers to remove over 25 TONNES of marine litter from 333 of our precious beaches, often braving extremely challenging weather. Our incredible Lead Volunteers are the driving force behind this and we can’t wait to welcome even more of them to the SAS family in 2016!”

To register your beach clean, or for more information email: [email protected] or call 01872 553001.

Related topics:Volunteers