Action Against Litter Newsletter – Issue 8
So far this year, 625 people have taken part in inland litter picks, across 43 dates.
There have also been 58 beach cleans with 1,179 volunteers involved. The Thanet Coast Project has held four beach cleans, attended by 122 volunteers, with a further one to come on Friday 6 December.
If you are thinking of doing a beach clean or litter pick, it’s very quick and easy to sign up.
- You can go straight to the litter pick booking form.
- You can register for a beach clean.
Cleanup UK
We are delighted to share the launch of Thanet’s new Community Cleanup Hubs, spearheaded by CleanupUK.
CleanupUK is a charity committed to reducing litter and helping local communities to create cleaner, healthier and safer spaces for everyone to enjoy..
We have new Cleanup Hubs based in ARK Cliftonville Community Centre, Albion Road, Margate, CT9 2HP and Newington Community Centre, Princess Margaret Avenue, Ramsgate, CT112 6HX, with more hubs joining very soon. They are funded by CleanupUK which is working with local organisations.
These Cleanup Hubs will provide free access to litter picking equipment to the local community, making it easy for anyone to take part.
Earlier in November, CleanupUK, partnering with Kent Coast Volunteering, invited the community to celebrate the launch of Thanet’s new Community Cleanup Hubs. This was a drop-in afternoon with refreshments and a chance to find out more about the Hubs.
A second drop-in event to launch more Hubs is planned for Thursday 23 January 2025 from 1pm -3pm at ARK Cliftonville Community Centre, Albion Road, Margate, CT9 2HP – all are welcome. This event aims to recognise all the work existing individual litter pickers and groups are doing – as well as encouraging new people to get involved in helping to create a litter free Thanet!
CleanupUK Champion for Thanet, Sam Pisano said: “We have an amazing community in Thanet who feel passionate about keeping our streets and coastline litter free. There are existing groups like Rise Up Clean Up Margate, Ramsgate Litter Pickers and Friends of Botany Bay to name a few, that organise litter picking events that anyone can join. And there are many incredibly dedicated individuals that go out regularly picking up litter in their local area or whilst out walking their dogs! We wanted to offer the opportunity, for anyone thinking about doing this or just wanting to meet like minded people, to easily access litter picking equipment via the Cleanup Hubs. Everyone can play a role in keeping Thanet beautiful.”
For further information about Cleanup Hubs in Thanet please contact Sam Pisano at sam.pisano@cleanupuk.org.uk or visit www.cleanupuk.org.uk where you can find more details about the Cleanup Hubs in Thanet.
Rise Up Clean Up
Rise Up Clean Up, a community-driven social initiative with a mission to clean up Margate’s beaches, has had another active year tackling litter on the coast.
In the past 12 months RUCU has:
- Carried out 22 beach cleans.
- Had 438 volunteers at beach cleans.
- Collected 263 bags of rubbish.
Since July 2022, a whopping 1,581 bags of rubbish have been collected, weighing 7.8 tons – the weight of a Loop bus!
If you would like to join them, or find out more, please visit https://www.riseupcleanup.co.uk/
The Big Beach Clean
This year, 5,845 volunteers took part in 476 events to help clean up and survey our coastline, organised by The Marine Conservation Society. A whopping 249,823 litter items were collected, weighing 6.04 tonnes and filling 1,675 bags! By removing this litter, the volunteers involved helped to prevent it from entering our ocean and harming marine life.
In Thanet a two hour event, hosted by Thanet Coast Project, was attended by many people of all ages at Pegwell Bay. t.
Those who couldn’t make it to the beach still played their part, with 104 volunteers taking part in inland litter picks. They collected 647 items, removing 84kgs of litter from the natural environment and stopping it from entering our waterways. For more info see Source to Sea
What happens next?
The Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch team is now analysing the litter survey data submitted by volunteers during this year’s Great British Beach Clean. The full results will be released in March 2025.
In the meantime, you can discover the most prevalent litter types across the UK and Channel Islands, what this tells us, and what action is being taken in this year’s report.