Next weekend (Sat 3rd May) sees a clean at Loch Eynort– which is always a loch that traps a vast amount of debris. Meet at W3W buckling.panel.facing at 10 am.
Bracadale Beach Blitz
It’s amazing just how much you can get onto a relatively small boat! Using this, three tonnes of mainly plastic debris was removed from shores around Heaste last year!
Friday 9th and Saturday 10th May will see the return of the Scottish Coastal Clean Up project to Skye, this time to make a further attempt at a Bracadale Beach Blitz (see poster below). Hopefully they will arrive on Thursday 8th, with the boat to be based at the pontoons at Portnalong, with skips there and at Harlosh. The overall objective of the two days will be to use the boat to remove as much marine litter as possible from the more remote beaches and islands in the loch, which are difficult to access in any other way. The precise locations that we will be working on will be almost entirely weather dependent, so we will set up a special WhatsApp group for everyone who wants to be involved on the day, so that you know where to come and help. Please contact us at skye.beachcleans@gmail.com or via the FB Page if you would like to get involved.
Friday afternoon and evening we will also be organising an Open House at the primary School in Struan to display marine litter artwork and information, to demonstrate rope mat making (Shore to Floor), provide refreshments, and to bring together all the people from local, regional and national organisations who have come together to contribute to this exercise. These will include Skye Beach Cleans ourselves, Scottish Islands Federation’s Marine Litter Working Group, the Scottish Coastal Clean Up project, Keep Britain Tidy, MY Group Ltd (the recycling company) and others. Food will be available between 1700-2000 at the Crofters Bite just across the road!
In the background to this activity, we – a group of currently four Trustees – have applied to have Skye Beach Cleans set up as a registered charity (SCIO) so that we can apply for funds to, for example, set up a recycling centre for marine litter on the island, start to fundraise for our own Skye-based boat, etc. If anyone else is interested in becoming more involved in our activities, either as a volunteer or even as a Trustee – please contact us via the mail box!
July will see the return of Dr Tom Stanton and his 50 Years of Litter on Skye project – more details to follow when available.
Don’t forget that if anyone would like help and support in organising a clean in their own area, we’d be happy to help! Just drop us a note to skye.beachcleans@gmail.com.