BUDE lady, Jan Wells, has completed a year of 2 Minute beach cleans in 2016, and has praised the efforts of local people in keeping their beaches clean and safe for the marine environment and community.

Jan, who has lived in Bude for 30 years, has now completed over 365 days of beach cleans, after being introduced to the project by Martin Dorey, founder of the 2 Minute Beach Clean, which, since it was introduced during the winter of 2013 and 2014, has gone international.

Jan explained to the Post how her vow to clean her local beaches every day for a year came about.

She said: “We were aware the beaches were getting dirtier, but, like most people, it was on such a huge scale — it seemed impossible to know what to do.

“Ado Shorland stepped up and started Widemouth Task Force, organising pickers, bags, and health and safety. This was amazing — people coming together and just getting stuck in for an hour or two, picking up and making a difference.”

She went on to say how Martin Dorey’s ‘2 Minute Beach Clean’ brain wave inspired her and others to do their bit.

She added: “What if everyone who used the beach — surfers, dog walkers, etc. — all spent two minutes picking up; what a difference it would make!”

Added to this was the idea of taking a photo of a clean and sharing it on the social media site, Instagram. Jan has also posted photos on Twitter, allowing her followers to see the work she has been doing.

Jan continued: “I wanted to support the beach cleans and keep it out there, and I also wanted an idea of what one family could remove in a year, so I decided to try and post at least one photo a day for a year.”

Jan’s dogs, Maggie and Bub, often join her on the beach when doing a clean during the week, and can be seen in many of Jan’s photos on social media.

At the weekends, Jan told the Post that she is often joined by her husband, Adam, and daughters, Emily and Lucy, who help her pick up litter. She said: “These are my favourite days, when we’re all together.”

Jan continued: “As a family, we felt it was important to pick up. We spend a lot of time on the beach and our girls are incredibly lucky to be growing up in such a beautiful place. We’d like to see it kept that way; it’s no good thinking it’s someone else’s problem.”

The most frequently found item on the beach cleans are plastic drink bottles. However, Jan has come across a variety of things.

She said: “After a stormy day, you really can find anything on the beach. Recently, I found a plastic badge from a 1958 promotion of Quaker Puffed Wheat.”

The rubbish Jan collects is often saved for local community art projects, and some comes home with her, where it is recycled.

She told the Post that there is now a company that is taking beach clean rubbish for recycling, another big step forward.

Additionally, the Bude Cleaner Seas Project has been using beach clean litter at a recent creating day with Year 7 students at Budehaven school.

People like Avril Sainsbury, of the Cleaner Seas Project, and Deb Rosser, founder of Refill Bude and organiser of the Crooklets beach cleans, inspire Jan to continue with her cleans.

She added: “Bude is just full of fabulous role models.”

Since finishing her 365th beach clean in December, Jan has started a series of cleans for 2017.

She is still picking up, and is trying to keep count of the plastic bottles she collects.

She said: “We’ll have to see if I can keep that up!”

Jan explained that the main reason she has committed a lot of her time to cleaning her local beaches is because she wants to protect the marine environment and wildlife, and to prevent large items getting broken up and ‘making the plastic confetti that we see on our tide line’.

Jan added: “I’m pleased to have achieved 365 days, but I’m very aware that I’m a small cog in what goes on. There are so many people who pick up every day with no fan fare; I’d like to give them a pat on the back.”

For further information and to get involved in the 2 Minute Beach Clean, visit https://beachclean.net