April 2024 News & Events
Contents
Future events: Young Strandliners, River Rother, Fairlight, Eastbourne
What to look for in April: Mermaid purses
Past events: Dungeness, Big Plastic Count
Social media presence
Membership of Strandliners
Could you nominate Strandliners for an award?
An award from Movement for Good could be used towards putting on more events like Love Our Rother to help increase public awareness of plastic pollution and climate change, and what we can do to help.
Please follow this link to nominate us for the £1,000 draw under the environment and climate category, and continue through to nominate us for £5,000 if you wish. This should only take 2 minutes.
Note: when you type Strandliners CIC in the search, it will say no results found – simply tick the box that says registration exempt and complete the short form. Thank you for your support.
Future Events
Young Strandliners
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 11th April
We will be carrying out a strandline bio-blitz. If you know anyone who would like to be involved, please email. (The image above from Buglife shows a strandline beetle).
River Rother Pick and Sort
Tuesday April 16th at 10.00am
This will be a pick in the normal way, but it is an event for Curious Agenda, who will be making sculptures from beach and riverbank rubbish for their festival at the end of May. Numbers are limited, so please register here if you would like to take part. We will email full details to all those who have signed up.
Fairlight Berm
Saturday 27th April
Having seen the rubbish that has collected here since our last event, we are returning for another clean behind the berm. We plan to go out at low tide and stay until the tide goes out again. It will be a long day, but we will take the Kelly kettles so we can have a cuppa! Our wonderful friends from the Pett Level Independent Inshore Rescue Boat will collect the rubbish from designated points as a training exercise. Please register here if you are interested in joining us.
Look out for more river events soon!
Eastbourne Spring Water Festival
Friday 10th to Sunday 19th May
Strandliners will have a stand at the Eco Fair on Saturday 11th May from 10am – 4 pm on the Western Lawns with a display and activities. Come along and have a chat to the team. You find out more about the festival here.
Masterclass
Some of our volunteers completed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with the UN and OU Netherlands in 2020-21. A new MOOC is currently being developed but there is a Masterclass on Unnecessary, Avoidable and Problematic Plastic Products and Polymers available now to study now at your own pace. There is no cost. This could be a taster for a future MOOC.The Strandliners team is happy to give support anyone who would like to take part.
What to look for in April
This month we are inviting you to become citizen scientists by looking out for mermaid purses. Empty egg cases of sharks, skates and rays can help indicate species presence and diversity. By recording your finds at the Shark Trust, you are helping to discover more about egg-laying species in our waters. See more in our blog.
Past Events
MCS Survey Dungeness
We were a small team, but worked hard to identify and record 653 items in our 100-metre survey area, weighing just over 14 kg. We removed a further 21 kg of rubbish from the environment on our walk back. Some of the rubbish will be used by artists at Curious Agenda as part of their festival at the end of May.
Big Plastic Count
Did you take part by recording your household plastic packing for a week? If anyone would like to share their results, we can compare our findings with the national results. There is no blame and shame – all results will be treated anonymously. One of the Strandliners team found they had used a little less than last time, but if all households were the same, the UK would use over 23 billion bits of plastic each year!
Social Media Presence
We appreciate your support through subscribing to this newsletter, please share with friends and family
Facebook – Strandliners
Instagram – Strandliners
X/Twitter – @StrandlinersCIC
Membership of Strandliners
Benefits of becoming a member include a quarterly online magazine, The Fulmar, a monthly raffle to win a sea bean, and opportunities to join beach, marine & citizen science workshops. If you would like to continue your membership, renewals are due for 2024. Thank you to all our supporters who have already renewed their membership.