THE Crackington Crew, a newly formed beach clean group based near Bude, has received support from the BeachCare programme, enabling them to successfully take part in as many clean-ups as possible.

The Crackington Crew, a locally formed group who have already cleared about half a tonne of litter since starting in June, are part of a larger network of beach-clean groups that are supported by the BeachCare project in Devon and Cornwall.

The group is made up of local community members and often visitors who are passionate about keeping Cornwall’s beaches clean, and now have approximately 20 people who attend the various cleans with group leader Pete Cooper.

The BeachCare programme, part of the national campaign Keep Britain Tidy, aims to support community groups and encourages them to go out into their local area to look after their beaches and coastline, whilst also involving the wider community.

The programme was keen to ensure the Crackington Crew were completing their beach cleans properly, safely and in the most efficient way possible, so BeachCare officer for the South West, Neil Hembrow, got in touch with Pete Cooper to support the group and provide them with the correct equipment needed.

The Crackington Crew have now completed an official total of 18 clean-ups since their first clean on June 19, clearing 436 kilos of litter with approximately 279 people attending in total.

As well as Crackington Haven, the group occasionally goes to Tremoutha Haven — which is directly next to Crackington — to take part in cleans there.

This beach is difficult to get to, with no on-land access, so the group has to take care when getting to the location, checking timetables to schedule when the tide is in their favour to ensure they don’t get cut off.

On September 17, the Crackington Crew is due to take part in a clean on Tremoutha beach, with two teams getting involved. The first group will be up during the early hours of the morning to clear the litter, and the second group will bring it back, and the group hope to hear for confirmation of the donation of a single-use ship bag to use during this clean.

Speaking of BeachCare’s support, Pete said: “It’s really great to have been supported by BeachCare. My initial plan when starting the group was to keep it as informal as possible, but having someone like Neil (Hembrow) is brilliant — I expected him, being part of BeachCare and Keep Britain Tidy, to be quite formal, but he’s answered my questions and I’ve answered his, and he’s a really nice, laid-back guy. He looks after his team, which is in the low hundreds, and I look after mine.”

Neil told the Post: “The Crackington Crew only started two months ago, but have already removed about 21 tonnes of litter from their area, which is great as they’ve helped with a particularly bad year for the amount of litter that has been swept onto our beaches.

“I think the group is fantastic; they’ve really reacted to the amount of litter that has been washed up or left on the beaches, and they go out very often to clean it up.”

Over the next few months, the next step for the Crackington Crew is to take part in a successful clean on Tremoutha beach, and Pete is looking forward to attending the Bude Wave Conference in September to ‘catch up with fellow beach clean compadres’.

With autumn and winter vastly approaching, storms are more likely to occur.

Pete added: “During this time, we want to raise our momento and remind people of the stuff we do as a group, and to reinforce the good things that come out of the beach cleans. Even if it’s collecting a bag full of rope, it all makes a difference.

“We’re aiming to do a lot more cleans and make our group as high profile as possible.”