Welcome to the Strandliners September newsletter.
We have a busy month ahead with events at Rye, Bexhill and Hastings plus further Community Action Team training sessions; beach surveys and clean-ups in three locations and, importantly, a Strandliners presentation at the United Nations Association (London and Southeast Region) “Our Sustainable Planet” event at Hastings Museum – phew! I’ll need some help! (See below for more info).
On top of that, Strandliners has forged a new and exciting partnership with the United Nations Association (London and Southeast Region).
Community Action Team (CAT) training sessions
Part of a groundbreaking project, funded by Sea-Changers, to engage with everyone who visits beaches and rivers, demonstrate how to identify and record the washed-up rubbish in order to discover the sources of this pollution – and take steps to stop it. The CAT programme continues with ‘open to all’ intro sessions on September 28th & Saturday 5th October (Full programme listed below.)
Beach Cleans and surveys
Dungeness, Winchelsea Beach & Pett Level all have beach surveys and clean-ups this month. There are Marine Conservation Society beach surveys set for Pett Level and Winchelsea Beach where ‘brand audits’ will also be undertaken as part of the international #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement. (Dates and times in ‘Future Events)
Events
Stands at Rye, Bexhill and Hastings, where we look forward to catching up. And, importantly, the United Nations Association conference “Our Sustainable Planet” at Hastings Museum which includes a Strandliners presentation by Andy Dinsdale.
Help needed!
Hall or meeting room to hire in Camber Sands or Bexhill. Needs to be 5 mins walking distance of beach and hold somewhere between 10 and 20 people.
30 minutes of your time to help out on the Strandliners stall at the Bexhill Festival of the Sea and/or Hastings Sustainability on Sea. You need to have awareness of the items found on local beaches, the sources and Strandliners mission.
Any social media users out there who could help administer the Strandliners accounts? Nothing too much at the moment, maybe a look in the morning and in the evening? Perhaps someone who is finding access the beach difficult but wants to keep their hand in?
Please email if anyone has any ideas, thoughts or can help, thank you.
Community Action Team Training
This is what people are saying about the CAT programme…
“Very informative”
“I’ll never see the beach in the same way again”
“Can’t wait to start recording”
Get to know your nurdle from your biobead!
Identify international plastic pollution coming to our UK shores
Just where does it all come from!
A BRAND NEW PROGRAMME – HELP GET IT UP & RUNNING
1 – We aim to identify local and international pollution on our beaches.
2 – Begin to understand what this marine pollution really is.
3 – Discover methods of surveying, either on our own or as part of organised river and beach surveys.
Over the next couple of months, Strandliners will recruit and train team-leaders to head local action teams in targeted communities across the River Rother basin: from Heathfield to Hythe, Rotherfield to Rye. All participants can help shape this innovative project where we can gather data as citizen scientists to help stop our marine and riverine pollution.
The point? Over 60% of the toxic waste we regularly pick up on our beaches and riverbanks comes from inland. Our goal is to engage upstream communities in the fight against plastic by establishing locally-organised and managed teams where people live and work; to educate, inform and activate them to become stakeholders and stewards of their own inland aqua-environments: their local rivers, streams, lakes, and standing waters. It’s a challenge, but look at the success of citizen scientists who gathered data to support the creation of Beachy Head East marine conservation zone – designated area of protection for marine species and habitatsTo make it work, we need a select group of dedicated women and men – volunteers like you – to train as CAT team-leaders, starting now.
The programme follows three stages
1. Introduction, 2. Analysis, 3. Team Leader
Next session – Level 2
When: Saturday September 15 from 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Where: Pett Level
Next session – Level 1
When: Saturday September 28 from 2.30pm – 5.00pm
Where: Pett Level
To book a place: email strandlinersCIC@gmail.com
Refreshments provided – of course!
Future events
Strandliners CIC will have a stand at these events:
Come and see us, we’d love to see some familiar faces
Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th September – Bexhill Festival of the Sea
Thursday 26th September – Our Sustainable Planet – UNA London and Southeast Region, Hastings Museum (tickets here). And no ticket needed for the stands and exhibition from 3 to 6pm.
Sunday 29th September – Sustainability on Sea (Hastings Stade)
Beach surveys & clean ups MCSUK & #BreakFreeFromPlastic Friday September 20th – Winchelsea Beach – 4pm
Meet at end of Dog’s Hill Rd, Winchelsea Beach, TN36 4LX.
Saturday September 21st, Dungeness, Lydd Ranges 9.30am meet, end 12.30pm.
Please email for booking and instructions as limited numbers. This will include a 30 minute walk on shingle to the survey point, and we shall clean up on the return journey to the car park.
Sunday September 22nd – Pett Level – 10am
Meet up on sea wall between Smuggler Pub and Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat, Pett Level Rd, TN35 4EH.
River & Beach surveys & clean ups with SAS October (between 19th and Nov 2nd) – details to follow, but looking at 3 or 4 River Rother events and possibly Winchelsea Beach and Camber too.
The Fairlight Berm – This site will be cleaned and surveyed later this year when the area should be safer to access. Stay tuned for further developments! Due to access there may only be a 1 or 2 week notice, but it should be on a weekend. We are in negotiation to facilitate this, but other events are taking up time at the moment.
Community Action Team
Beach plastic rubbish identification & survey training
(If interested try out session 1, then sessions 2 & 3 will give further skills to be able to identify, record and disseminate data from beach and river pollution.)
Saturday 28th September
– Pett Level 2.30 to 5pm – Session 1 – Introduction – open to public.
– Intro to beach/marine pollution. What is it? Where does it come from? Why recording is the way to go. A MCSuk beachwatch survey.
Booking important as we will be a small group. Book here.
Saturday 5th October
– Camber Sands – Session 1 – Introduction – open to public.
– Intro to beach/marine pollution. What is it? Where does it come from? Why recording is the way to go. A MCSuk beachwatch survey.
Booking important as we will be a small group. Book here.
Saturday 19th October to Sunday 2nd November
– Pett Level or Camber Sands – Session 2 open to previous 2 public session 1’s.
– Recap, different surveys, analysis, survey protocol. “Homework” – identify a site.
Dates to be fixed between
Saturday 19th October to Sunday 3rd November
– River Rother (SAS + Break Free from Plastic) surveys/clean ups & practicals for CAT trainees.
– Practical river bank training for CAT trainees (one of sessions).
Sunday 3rd November or Sunday 10th November
– Session 3 open to all who have completed sessions 1 + 2 + river practical (or have expertise, knowledge to attend). Pett Level, Rye or Camber Sands (less need to be by beach).
– Recap. Feedback from what CAT has done for trainees so far. Feedback from identification of sites. Looking at river catchment areas upstream.
Recent events
Community Action Team workshop/training part 1
Thank you to all who made the first session of this project, we are all moulding this project through your participation and continual evaluation of the process to make it succeed. This is a very exciting time and from these small steps we shall make great changes to our world.
Rubbish Links!
A Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History – BBC4
A History of Wastefulness: Today’s Trash Challenge – World Service Radio
Definitions and meanings
If anyone has anything they’d like explaining regarding marine pollution, waste, recycling etc please email your question to us at Strandliners and we’ll attempt to demystify those technical terms!
This month – Sustainable development/Sustainability
It seems there is no universally agreed definition on what sustainability means. There are many different views on what it is and how it can be achieved, but the idea of sustainability stems from the concept of sustainable development which became common language at the World’s first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development (1992)
From the United Nations
Sustainable Development”Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and planet.For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. These elements are interconnected and all are crucial for the well-being of individuals and societies.Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. To this end, there must be promotion of sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth, creating greater opportunities for all, reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living, fostering equitable social development and inclusion, and promoting integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems.