Join/Donate
Ben Fogle

SAS & Ben Fogle call for beach clean volunteers this summer

SAS, Ben Fogle and Barefoot Wine are leading the way in a campaign to keep Britain’s beaches ‘barefoot friendly’ in 2013. The national campaign, now in its sixth year, will kick off at Ben’s childhood beach of Climping in West Sussex in May, visiting 14 beaches across England, Scotland and Wales throughout the summer. Ben will also be personally hosting several of the beach cleans alongside SAS and together we are calling for coastal communities to join us on their favourite beaches.

Ben Fogle, who also led the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project in 2012, says: “I’ve been involved in environmental issues for years and I’m passionate about the outdoors. A seemingly clean beach can actually have huge amounts of litter and rubbish just hidden beneath the surface, it’s a bit like sweeping rubbish under the carpet. The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project makes tackling environmental issues fun and an activity that everyone can get involved with.”

“The 2012 Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project saw over 3 tonnes of litter collected from the UK’s coastline, including a sawn off shot gun, old signage and lots of tin cans! A staggering 10 tonnes of litter has been removed from our coastline since the campaign begun and I’m excited about building on this success and encouraging even more people to get involved.”

Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project events announced across the country

SAS has once again teamed up with Barefoot Wine to encourage beach loving volunteers to join in the coastal clean at their local beaches. Events will run from 2pm – 4pm, after collecting a free Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project t-shirt and beach clean equipment, volunteers will spend an afternoon collecting litter along their local beach, and end the day with a celebratory glass of Barefoot Wine.

Dates and Locations (*Ben Fogle in attendance)

All beach cleans will run from 2pm – 4pm:

May events:

  • Saturday 4th May –  Portsmouth –  Southsea – Clarence Pier, PO5 3AA
  • Sunday 5th May –  Essex Southend – Jubilee Beach, SS1 2EJ
  • Monday 6th May – Littlehampton – * Climping, BN17 5RN (Ben’s childhood beach)
  • Friday 10th May – Falmouth – Swanpool and Gyllyngvase – Next to Swanpool Beach Café, TR11 5BG
  • Saturday 11th May – Perranporth – In front of the main car park, TR6 0BH
  • Sunday 12th May – North Devon – Saunton – At the bottom of the slipway, EX33 1LQ
  • Friday 31st May –  Cardiff * – Penarth Pier, CF64 3AU

June events:

  • Saturday 1st June – Liverpool – Wirral – Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton Beach, CH45 2JS
  • Sunday 2nd June – Blackpool – Lytham & St Annes, FY8 1LH

July events:

  • Saturday 6th July – Brighton – At the SAS tent in the Paddle Round The Pier Village, BN3 2FR
  • Friday 19th July – London – * Thames – South Bank, Gabriel’s Wharf , SE1 9PP

August & September events:

  • Saturday 31st August – Scarborough – South Bay , YO11 1NU
  • Sunday 1st September – Saltburn – South of the pier, TS12 1HQ
  • Monday 2nd September – Fife – * St Andrews – West Sands beach – KY16 9XL

Britain has the thirteenth longest coastline in the world and our beaches provide a fantastic day out for everyone but currently there are almost 2,000 items of marine litter for every km of the UK’s beaches. Marine litter can devastate our beaches and severely affect our enjoyment of these beautiful places. The majority of beach users rank cleanliness as a priority in choosing their destination and a 2005 ENCAMS study showed that 97% of people avoided beaches with 10, or more, large litter items per metre.

For more information about the SAS Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project 2013. To register for your local beach clean please contact [email protected] or call 01872 553001.