Fylde BeachCare

April 2019 - March 2020 Summary

It’s been another great year for LOVEmyBEACH along Coast, with the launch of exciting new projects and more beach cleans taking place than ever before! We continue to support 13 volunteer led beach clean groups along the Fylde Coast and have seen a huge increase in the number of corporate groups taking part this year. Our army of dedicated volunteers have been recognised with 2 awards— Tower’s Local Heroes and BBC Radio Community Project of the Year (Highly Commended). We have recently launched a new campaign, called WOOP! which encourages teenage girls to switch to sustainable alternatives to bathroom products and behaviours. LOVEmyBEACH continues to be a locally prominent voice in the quest to protect our marine environment, improve bathing water quality and encourage positive behaviours on the beach, at home and in the workplace. Thank you to all our volunteers, supporters, funders and partner organisations for your ongoing support. Take a look to find out more!

Volunteering in numbers 13 beach clean groups along the Fylde Coast

382 beach clean events organised this year. Including 27 additional beach cleans put on for corporate groups and schools 898 new volunteers attending beach clean events, compared to 772 last year 12,200 volunteer hours given to cleaning beaches compared to 11,860 last year 9150 bags of litter removed from beaches and estuaries, compared to 8,900 last year

Press and media in numbers 12 pieces in newspaper press, 2 TV interviews and 6 pieces on local radio

Engagement in numbers 10 presentations given 15 events attended

2,700 followers on Fylde LOVEmyBEACH Twitter 1,600 new people engaged in person 1,700 followers on LOVEmyBEACH NW Twitter

2,400 followers on LOVEmyBEACH Facebook £114,410 saved through in kind contributions;

from partner organisations and volunteer hours 770 followers on LOVEmyBEACH Instagram Fylde BeachCare

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Volunteer led beach, coastal and estuary care groups

There are 13 volunteer groups along the Fylde Coast and LOVE- myBEACH is proud to work along- side each group in various ways:

Freckleton EstuaryCare Friends of the Estuary (Lytham)* Fairhaven CoastalCare St Annes BeachCare St Annes North BeachCare Blackpool Sea Life Centre* Bispham CoastalCare BeachCare Rossall Beach Residents* Rossall Point BeachCare BeachCare Harbour Village EstuaryCare Knott End BeachCare*

And of course not forgetting the wonderful lone beach cleaners! Increasing self-sufficiency of volunteer groups: *Independently run groups  LOVEmyBEACH continues to offer varying levels of support to each group. There are now 7 groups which Between April 2019 and March 2020: we provide equipment, insurance, risk assessments and first aid training for. The other 6 groups receive 355 beach cleans led by volunteer groups less formal support from LOVEmyBEACH, but are Over 9,000 bags of litter collected from Fylde equally valued volunteers. coast  This year, LOVEmyBEACH groups have begun keeping Over 250 volunteers regularly engaged in beach more detailed records of the number of regular and cleans new volunteers taking part. Also the amount of bags collected and/or weight of litter collected. This is help- Over 12,000 volunteer hours given ing to build a picture of the long term impact of our With an economic value of over £105,000 volunteer’s efforts and has led to increased media op- portunities. Fylde BeachCare

AprilMarch 2019 2016 - -March March 20202017 PagePage 12

CommunitySpotlight on engagement our wonderful success volunteers stories

… To every single volunteer involved!

Take a look at the incredible achievements of our volun- teers since LOVEmyBEACH began in 2012….

Over 2000 beach cleans led by volunteer groups

Over 3000 individual volunteers have taken part in a beach clean

Over 40,000 bags of litterremoved from Fylde coast

Over 54,000 volunteer hours given

With an economic value of over £470,000 Christmas 2019 All our volunteer groups celebrate Just a few highlights of 2019… Christmas each year, with either mince pies on the beach, a Christ-  Freckleton EstuaryCare removed 655kg of litter during just 12 clean ups mas dinner or a meal out. We must  Fairhaven CoastalCare removed 230 bags of litter in just 12 months say a big THANK YOU to Glasdon,  St Annes North BeachCare have removed 3 tonnes in just 2 years who made a generous donation towards the celebrations.  St Annes BeachCare have saved Fylde council over £9,000 this year

 900 new volunteers took part in a beach clean this year

 We welcomed 4 new group leaders this year—Debbie, Janice, Ruth & Peter Fylde BeachCare

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Award winning volunteers

It’s not just us who think our LOVEmyBEACH volunteers are amazing! The Fylde Coast volunteers won two awards this year, in recognition for their incredible beach cleaning efforts! They were collectively named as Local Heroes to celebrate Blackpool Tower’s 125th Anniversary. A group of 40 volunteers from beach clean groups along the Fylde Coast were treated to afternoon tea and an evening of dancing inside the famous Tower Ballroom. Within the same month LOVEmyBEACH was nominated as “Community Project of the Year” by BBC Radio Lancashire. After some filming and interviews on the beach, 3 group leaders were invited to a formal awards ceremony in Blackburn. It was a fantastic evening, with a lovely three course meal and the opportunity to hear about so many wonderful projects and inspirational individuals throughout Lancashire.

The strangest part of the award ceremonies was seeing everyone in their “normal” clothes, rather than in wellies and waterproofs! Although our volunteers don’t beach clean for the praise or recognition and many don’t consider themselves “heroes”, these awards go to show that their dedication to helping the environment and keeping our coastlines clean throughout the year is something to be extremely proud of. Fylde BeachCare

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Corporate beach cleans & engaging new audiences

Over the years we have always welcomed corporate groups to our beach “I just wanted to send a cleans, as it is a brilliant opportunity for companies to give something quick note of thanks for to- back to the local community, whilst staff have the chance for team build- day. ing out of the office. Michael was a great fgroup leader and everyone from However, this year we have been inundated with requests and corporate Engie has commented on beach cleans have been more popular than ever. In the last 12 months what a fantastic opportunity we have received 62 enquiries! to get involved and help out it has been. To put this huge spike into context…LOVEmyBEACH had only delivered 34 He was a star today with his corporate beach cleans between 2012 and 2019. local knowledge, stories and tips for recycling.” Enormous thanks go to our wonderful volunteer groups, who welcome Feedback from Engie, who these corporate teams onto their beach cleans. A special mention to joined the St Annes North the St Annes North BeachCare volunteers who have taken out 24 BeachCare group corporate groups and 9 schools/youth groups over the last 12 months—wow!

Special mention goes to United Utilities, who reg- ularly allow teams to take part in beach cleans. This year we have welcomed 10 UU teams have brought 224 staff along to a beach clean. UU staff alone have removed 460kg of litter from the Fylde Coast during 2019! Since LOVEmyBEACH began in 2012, UU have tak- en part in 76 beach cleans and over 1600 UU staff have volunteered along the Fylde Coast.

The companies we have taken out We have also estab- this year include: Matalan, Environ- lished a great part- ment Agency, Direct Line, Ricoh, nership with the Natwest, Engie, Talk Talk, Lloyds, Fylde Sand Dunes Bosch, Lex Autolease... Project and after beach cleaning some The feedback is always overwhelm- teams have joined ingly positive and LOVEmyBEACH the project’s rangers even received generous donations and taken part in totalling over £1500+ from Shell, practical conservation Avison Young and Key KR Group to activities on the purchase more equipment for our dunes, in the after- volunteers. noon. Fylde BeachCare

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Working to reduce single use plastics

Refill campaign We have continued to support the national Refill campaign this year—working to reduce single use plastic bottles. There are now over 120 Refill stations on the Fylde Coast, thanks to the continued support of volunteers, local businesses and various organisa- Wipe Out Ocean Plastics! tions joining forces with us to support the campaign. Behind the scenes we have been working on a new A highlight of the ReFILL campaign was the involve- campaign this year. WOOP! Is aimed at teenage girls/ ment of St Thomas’ CE Primary School, for the 2nd young women, with the objective of raising awareness year running. After a beach clean and assembly of the plastic content of products such as wet wipes about LOVEmyBEACH, Year 4 spent the morning and period care products, and to highlight the impact learning about the ReFILL campaign . In the after- they can have on the environment when they are noon, we headed into St Annes to approach local flushed down the loo. businesses and seek feedback from those who signed up last year. This is the age when habitual behaviours are formed and also young women are significant users of these The afternoon was a huge success and the children products. So it is hoped through the campaign we will were brilliant ambassadors of LOVEmyBEACH, sign- encourage positive and responsible behavior to last a ing up an extra 12 Refill stations in St Annes. lifetime. We have designed new bathroom posters, stickers, leaflets, a social media campaign and will be working with Girl Guide groups to deliver interactive WOOP! Sessions and raise awareness of how everyone can get involved. Stay tuned for the official launch in Spring 2020...

2 Minute Beach Clean Boards In summer 2019, we were lucky enough to win £2000 from Tesco, after shoppers voted us into 2nd place in the Tesco Bags of Help scheme! The money will help us buy up to 4 more 2 Minute Beach Clean Boards. Stay tuned for more info on where they’ll be along the Fylde Coast, during summer 2020. Fylde BeachCare

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Engaging schools and young people

This year, LMB has worked with 13 Fylde coast schools and colleges, engaging over 900 students…

 Assemblies at St Bedes High School and St Thomas & Holy Family Primary Schools.

 Interactive classroom sessions delivered to Baines En- dowed and Hambleton Primary Schools.

 24 different classes have taken part in a beach clean this year! A class from took part in a clean each week for a whole term and Highfield School send a class of year 7’s every term.

 Attended the North West Eco-Schools Conference, shar- Fresher’s Fairs ing LMB messages to 14 different schools. This year we attended Myerscough College and Blackpool & Fylde College Fresher’s Fairs to share our messages with the students. Our display showcased how to have a “plastic free night out” and even led Since LOVEmyBEACH to LOVEmyBEACH being chosen as one of Blackpool began in 2012, we & Fylde College’s charities of the year! have delivered over 150 school ses- sions and worked with over 3800 stu- dents...Inspiring the next generation of ocean lovers!

National Citizen Service Emily worked with a group 16-18 year olds from The Chal- lenge National Citizen Service, on a series of social action Throughout the year, we have also worked with days during August. The group took part in a beach clean in young people alongside The Police Cadets, BFC St Annes and hosted a “beach party”, with games and activi- Community Trust and UR Potential. ties to educate families about litter on our beaches. In November, Emily sat on the panel at Blackpool We also welcomed 5 other NCS groups out onto beach cleans Youth Summit—discussing all things environmen- as part of their summer programme. tal with Blackpool Youth Council. Fylde BeachCare

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Raising awareness of LOVEmyBEACH

Attended 15 local events to raise awareness of the LOVEmyBEACH During 2019, LOVEmyBEACH has campaign and spread our key messages, including: engaged with over 1600 peo-  Fylde Coastal Fair at Lytham 1940s weekend, engaging with over 300 ple at events & presentations. people! Since 2012, LMB has spoken to  Fairhaven Lake Open Day & Wyre Estuary Country Park Open Day, over 7000 people! displaying the LOVEmyBEACH promotional stand

 Blackpool Pier 2 Pier Swim, over 100 open water swimmers put local bathing water improvements to the test! Delivered 10 talks, including to:

Lytham Rotary Club

Friends of Ansdell Library

Lancashire’s Living Seas project Launch event Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, International Blue Flag Man- who joined us at these ager’s Conference—Blackpool events! hosted this international confer- ence with guests from all over the world!

Press and media

12 pieces in newspaper press, 2 TV interviews and 6 pieces on local ra- dio... Covering our volunteer groups, bathing water quality and plastic re- duction campaigns!

World Ocean’s Day

To celebrate World Oceans Day on 8th June, Emily organised a mini Ocean Festival on Blackpool Promenade, alongside Lancashire Wildlife Trust. Un- fortunately, after month’s of preparation, the great British weather rained the event off! We were still able to join the Sea Life Centre on a WOD beach clean and were even joined by Kiko Matthews on her bicycle tour of the UK coastline. Fylde BeachCare

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Engaging with key partners

We continue to work closely with all 3 Local Authori- ties, who are project partners, on volunteer engage- ment, practical beach clean matters, events, bathing water improvements and spreading the messages of Fylde BeachCare further. As the funders of the project, we work alongside the Environment Agency and United Utilities, collabora- tively working towards bathing water quality improve- ments and sharing key messages throughout the North LOVEmyBEACH received significant in kind contri- West. This year, we sent out 560+ information packs to butions from volunteers and partner organisations. local households with septic tanks, as part of the Call of Taking into account the economic value of volunteer Nature campaign. hours and contributions in kind such as storage space, meeting venues and donations by private We also work alongside various local environmental or- businesses the total in kind contributions for 2019- ganisationssuch as Wyre Rivers Trust, Ribble Rivers 20 was £114,410 Trust, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Park View 4U.

Special thanks goes to Blackpool Light Craft Club for their continued support in allowing us to use their LOVEmyBEACH is hosted by Keep Britain Tidy and we facilities. continue to support the charities work throughout the year. Throughout April our beach clean groups took part in the Great British Spring Clean, the country’s largest We continue to support the Turning Tides board volunteer clean up event, and we look forward to its and their vision to improve bathing water quali- return in September 2020. ty, whilst boosting the use of our coast. In partic- ular we supported the Active Coast programme of summer events on the coastline to encourage everybody to get out, get active and use the coast to connect to nature or to boost their health and wellbeing.

2019-20 has been another brilliant year for Fylde BeachCare and LOVEmyBEACH. The campaign con- tinues to grow from strength to strength and we are looking forward to the future and opportunity to build on our previous successes, relationships and watch our army of dedicated volunteers grow!

As we head into April 2020, we are unsure what the year ahead will bring. The LOVEmyBEACH campaign is al- ready looking at ways of adapting in response to the current Coronavirus pandemic and the safety of our volun- teers will always be our top priority. Lets hope that in 12 months time, we can all look back on these challenges and know that they brought our communities closer. Until then, please stay safe and keep in touch. Emily, Fylde BeachCare Officer