Help care for our Coast this May

Recent storms that hit Wales left the coastline in devastation and with summer just around the corner; Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) is searching for volunteers in Carmarthenshire and surrounding areas to help get our local beaches back to looking beautiful!

The second annual Clean Coasts Week, sponsored by McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, takes place from the 10th – 18th May 2014.

Keep Wales Tidy along with McDonald’s restaurant staff, community groups, schools and businesses will take part in clean-up events across the country, after high winds and severe flooding battered our coasts and left some beaches unrecognisable. Cefn Sidan lost a large amount of sand dune, and all along the Carmarthenshire coast, damage was caused causing transportation issues and problems for wildlife. A huge amount of marine litter was also washed onto the beaches with the large swells.

Daniel Snaith, KWT Carmarthenshire Project Officer said:

“After last year’s successful Clean Coasts Week in Carmarthenshire, we are hoping that this year will be bigger and better. Following the storms earlier this year that battered our coast, the campaign has even more importance, and will give local people a chance to help us try and bring our coast line back to its former glory.”

With less than a month to go, Keep Wales Tidy is urging people to help restore our beaches back to their former glory. Get family and friends involved by organising your own event on the West Wales coast. Whether it’s a quick trip to the beach for a two minute beach clean or whether you’re making a day of it- register your event on the www.keepwalestidy.org/cleancoast website or for more information, contact Daniel on 07824 504805 or email events@keepwalestidy.org.

An event has been arranged for Clean Coast Week 2014 at Cefn Sidan. Keep Wales Tidy and McDonalds Staff will be joining Natural Resources Wales, Tidy Towns, the council’s rangers, probation service, ramblers and volunteers to undertake a beach clean-up on 16th May. If you can’t organise your own event, why not pop along to Car Park 2 Pembrey Country Park at 9:30 to help you care for our coast!

Wales boasts some spectacular beaches, many having received the internationally recognised Blue Flag which is administered in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy. The Lonely Planet travel guide also voted the Welsh coastline as the ‘Best Region’ on Earth to visit in 2012.

But the recent bad weather transformed beautiful Welsh beaches- damaging coastal areas, breaking sea defences and leaving behind a trail of litter and flood debris.

Clean Coasts Week 2014 is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved in caring for our coast- from fixing local windswept fencing to clearing debris left on our beaches by flooding.

Ron Mounsey, local McDonald’s Franchisee said:

“McDonald’s has restaurants in communities throughout Wales and we have seen first-hand the effects of the recent weather conditions on Wales’ iconic coastline. Working in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy is a great opportunity to support the community and restore some of Wales’ most picturesque locations for everyone to enjoy.”

“My restaurant team will be volunteering as part of our commitment to keeping our local environment clean and litter-free and we would love to see as many people as possible joining our volunteers at the events in May.”

Keep Wales Tidy Chief Executive Lesley Jones comments:

“The coastline is very important for Wales as it can boost local economies and the tourism industry and allows us to showcase our beautiful country. Keep Wales Tidy has organised Clean Coast Week after storm damage devastated beaches in Wales. It’s important that we get together to help restore our beaches and maintain the high standard of our coast.”

“I hope that people from across Wales can spend a few hours at their nearest coastal area to ensure that locals and visitors can continue to enjoy our natural surroundings.”

Clean Coasts Week 2014 follows the success of the inaugural week last year which was also sponsored by McDonald’s. In 2013 110 events took place across Wales, involving 2461 participants who collected 2104 bags of rubbish!