“As a retired scuba diver I care for the ocean”
Awarded the MCS Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, Lesley Anderson looks after her local beaches
Lesley anderson, a retired nursery nurse and art teacher, is a Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteer, collecting litter and surveying beaches.
Where do you volunteer?
I volunteer in the area around Blackness Castle, located in Scotland’s Firth of Forth, up the coast from The Three Bridges at South Queensferry. The footfall of visitors to and through Blackness has increased dramatically in recent years due to the John Muir Way walking and cycling route and because some of the popular TV series Outlander is filmed at the castle.
What does your volunteering involve?
I volunteer for the MCS’s Beachwatch, which is a national beach cleaning and litter surveying programme. As a ‘Sea Champion’ I have adopted four beaches around Blackness, which I regularly clean and survey. Beachwatch was launched in 1993 and the Adopt-a-Beach project was established in 1999. I’ve been volunteering for these MCS initiatives for over 10 years and have become more involved in activities over the past seven years. The main aims of both schemes are to increase awareness of beach litter and its impact on the environment, and to monitor and report on the quantities and sources of coastline rubbish. This important information is added to a 25-year-old national database, which generates a comprehensive picture of rubbish on our shores. The MCS shares this evidence with the government and industries to try and reduce the amount of litter that ends up on our beaches. I am also involved with local education initiatives working with volunteers, schoolchildren and adults with learning disabilities.
Why do you volunteer?
I volunteer because I enjoy it, find it very satisfying and as a retired scuba diver I care for the ocean and all the creatures connected to it. I don’t want to see wildlife suffering and dying from unnecessary waste materials, whether it’s fishing lines, plastic bags or nurdles (plastic pellets). You name it, we’ve probably found it somewhere on the beaches around our coasts. I feel that by volunteering, I’m helping to reduce this harmful rubbish and educating people at the same time.