A RESIDENT from Bude has recently taken part in a celebratory beach clean on Polzeath beach, following her contribution to 220 beach cleans with two other volunteers over the past six years.

Deb Rosser, who moved to Bude from Essex seven years ago, has been involved in beach cleans on Crooklets ever since she first moved to the busy seaside town, having been put in contact with Neil Hembrow, Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare officer for the South West.

Deb, along with Nick Pickles and Andy Goodall, have, together, taken part in approximately 220 beach cleans in their areas since starting their projects six years ago.

Therefore, Neil decided to arrange a celebratory clean on Polzeath beach for Deb, Nick and Andy to get to meet each other, as well as numerous other volunteers, South West Water and members of the Polzeath BeachCare group; and to take part in a big beach clean together.

The clean, taking place on Friday, August 19, saw the group clean around 15 bags of litter.

Deb, who has recently collected 23 bags of rubbish from her latest clean on Crooklets beach, told the Post that ever since moving to Bude, she has wanted to get involved in a project to help the community.

She said: “I wanted to give something back; I always did a lot of community work when I was in Essex, and living by the sea and by the beach seemed like the perfect opportunity to get involved in helping shift marine rubbish and litter, and to look after our local beaches.”

Deb now does surveys once a month for Neil, shedding a light onto what gets washed up on the beaches. However, even today, Deb is still surprised at the number of cleans she has taken part in, and the amount of litter she has collected.

She continued: “It’s shocking. I always like to think that every single bit that is collected from the beach means there is one less going into the sea. You don’t realise what sort of a state it gets in — especially holiday makers; they don’t realise how much rubbish gets washed up onto Bude’s beaches.

“It’s vital to do these beach cleans, so that visitors keep coming to the town and coming to the beaches, which is what, ultimately, brings tourists to the area.”

Deb, who is also a member of Friends of Bude Sea Pool, is now heavily involved in the Refill Bude project, encouraging Bude to be plastic-free and to reuse hot drink cups, with their own brand of elegant, eco compostable drinks cups that are available to purchase for £7 from most cafes in Bude, with £2 from every purchase going to the Friends of Bude Sea Pool charity.

Deb added: “I just love Bude so much; I really want to help keep it litter-free and to keep people coming back to the town.”