ANYONE enjoying Bude’s beaches at this time of year has reason to be grateful to an army of volunteers who give up some of their spare time to keep the beaches clean, writes Christine Williams.

It was in May 2010 that Bude resident Deb Rosser and a few volunteers began cleaning up Crooklets Beach under the Keep Britain Tidy’s Beachcare Project. Since then the number of volunteers has grown and nowadays on the first Saturday of each month up to 28 enthusiastic people come to Crooklets Beach and spend an hour from 10am to 11am picking up rubbish and keeping the beach clear of marine litter. These days they call themselves Crooklets Recycling and Picking and are the longest serving beach cleaning group in the country.

Last Saturday, August 3, before starting work Deb explained that 86% of the waste they collect comes from fishing boats or nets. She held in her hand pieces of plastic melted into rock or glomerate and also showed a shotgun cartridge which had probably come from Canada where people stand on the coast and shoot at guillemots.

Lynne Woolner showed a pair of black underpants she had collected and said she had recently picked up a nappy and a whole Chinese takeaway meal.

Fortunately Bude is blessed with other groups of people who take pride in their surroundings and who are passionate about keeping their environment clean. These include Bude Rubbish Action Group (BRAG) whose aim is to pick up the ‘forgotten litter’ in alleyways, scrublands, pathways etc. in Bude and surrounding villages before it makes its way into the sea. Other groups are Widemouth Task Force, a beach cleaning volunteer group organised by local surfer Ado Shorland, Bude WI ladies who clean Summerleaze Beach on the fourth Wednesday of each month and Bude Primary School have a Plastic Minions group.

Fortunately their efforts are having an impact. Deb said that on Crooklets Beach in 2010 they filled an average of 12 bin bags in one hour. Nowadays the average is just two.

Everyone is welcome to come and join them. What could be better than enjoying being out in the fresh air while keeping the beaches clean and contributing to a greener Bude.