OUR COMMUNITY
 On some of your Sunday morning strolls along the Undercliff Walk in Brighton you may have noticed a large group of people of all ages armed with litter pickers combing the shore line with a crab logo on their t-shirts? Well they are the marvellous Deans Beach & Environment Volunteers! Alternating between the beaches at Ovingdean, Rottingdean and Saltdean every first Sunday of the month they gather at 11am to spend a couple of hours collecting and bagging up the plastic and other general rubbish which has ended up strewn across our seafront. Also known as GRAB (Gather Rubbish And Bin It) on their website organiser Libby Darling writes: cleaning local beaches on a regular basis with friends and family, I needed to share all my passion for keeping our marine conservation zone safe and clean for future generations became apparent. Social media played a massive part in this. Our beach cleans and volunteer support grew from just a few to up to 150 at a beach clean. Every time we hold an event we attract 20-30 volunteers, depending on so many environmental issues...the weather plays a huge part in this! After 6 years of cleaning beaches I worked out that we have recovered approx 6 tonnes of litter. That’s given use something to celebrate! At GRAB we hope to influence our local & wider community to recycle, reduce and reuse. To educate and encourage all of our members to take part in beach cleaning whether it be on an individual or a bigger scale. To teach our members through Facebook, on our website, on twitter & Instagram or at our events just how much litter is in our oceans and how it destroys the marine environment. We work with individuals and groups big and small to support those wanting to live a single use plastic free (SUPF) lifestyle through free workshops, one2one or in small groups.'' So are the beach cleans child/dog friendly, what do I do or need to join in and when is the next event? The beach cleans are child friendly, many children of all ages have attended the events so far. Regarding dogs, we refer you to Brighton & Hove City Council's laws regarding this, which are as follows: Dogs are permitted on all beaches in Brighton & Hove from the 1st of October to the 30th April. The rest of the year, dogs are only permitted on beaches listed as dog friendly beaches. When you take your dog on the beach they must be supervised and under control at all times and any fouling must be cleared immediately. All you need to do is get yourself to the beach where the clean is, look for the Deans Beach & Environment Volunteers flag, introduce yourself there. You will be given the necessary instructions and equipment to start you off. To find out when the next event is select the GRAB logo below, you will require Facebook access.  Along with their regular Sunday cleans The Deans Beach & Environment Volunteers also run events with the Marine Conservation Beach Watch and support Surfers Against Sewage beach cleans. Links to social media & website: www.facebook.com/thedeansvolunteers/ Website gthedeansvolunteers.strikingly.com/?fbclid=IwAR2zSxz-MmrJR0f8SUy9XZUNIjuDPxQYrLWBbuUIEyzjIbMaklrHN9Vpq-g twitter.com/deans_beach Contact Call 07749667242 Email thedeansvolunteers@gmail.com |
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