Cornish beach litter pick sees 500 bags of rubbish collected

Over 450 volunteers took part in Sunday’s “Great Cornish Beach Litter Pick” organised by Volunteer Cornwall and Clean Cornwall to remove litter washed up by the huge waves over the past few weeks. The event was supported by Cornwall Council and waste firm Cory who picked up the bags of litter collected by the volunteers.

The event saw organised litter picks held on ten beaches: Summerleaze, Polzeath, Looe, Gyllyngvase, Porthmeor, Perranporth, Fistral , Par, Porthtowan and Gwithian . A number of communities also joined in by staging litter picks on their own local beaches – including Swanpool, Porthleven, Readymoney Beach in Fowey and Flushing.

“This was an incredible community effort and I would like to thank everyone who took part” said Andy Breslford. “We attracted the support of 456 volunteers across the 10 beaches who collected 485 bags of rubbish. This was an example of people power at its very best”.

Lara Hill, from Clean Cornwall, who helped with the litter pick at Gwithian, said: ”It was great to get out in the sun, chat to people and do our bit to keep Cornwall clean.”

At Fistral beach in Newquay, around 48 people donned their gloves to take part in the litter pick, collecting 35 bags of rubbish.

At Gwithian around 30 volunteers joined in the litter pick, picking up a large number of bags of rubbish.

“It was great to see the experienced litter pickers come well prepared with pickers, bags and gloves said organiser Judy Thomas. 

Anyone who has been inspired by the example of Sunday’s intrepid litter pickers is being encouraged to stage their own event. If you are planning your own event please use #doourbit to help promote what you are doing.

People can also take part in the next Clean Cornwall Week which is due to take place between Saturday, March 15 to Sunday, March 23 when lots of events are being planned. Information on how to set up a litter pick is available on the Clean Cornwall website www.cleancornwall.co.uk .