If you missed litter pick there are events all year

MANY thanks to our coastal volunteers for great turnouts at Crosby and Ainsdale beaches for litter-picking sessions recently.

With more than 20 people turning up at each event, plenty of tidal debris was collected and taken off the sands.

The recent high tide cycle will have pushed tonnes of rubbish in and unfortunately because of our gently shelving beaches this tends to be deposited from Southport to Crosby.

If you were unable to attend the recent events, but would like to get involved, there are plenty more opportunities throughout the year.

Volunteer beach cleaning groups meet regularly at Southport, Ainsdale, Formby, Hightown and Crosby. Some of these groups work with a ranger on the day, others operate independently with permissions from Green Sefton or relevant landowners.

The next litter pick at Ainsdale beach will take place on Tuesday, March 19, between 11am and 1pm as usual. Volunteers meet at Ainsdale Discovery Centre (PR8 2QB) and collect litterpickers and bags before heading out on to the shore.

You can stay for as long as you like, but need to sign in and sign out so we know where everyone is!

Green Sefton’s next beach clean at Southport beach meets at Weld Road car park, on Saturday, March 23 for 11am.

Friends of Crosby Beach hold their next beach cleaning event on Sunday, March 24, meeting at the end of Mariners Road, Crosby for 10.30am. Hightown

Why not join a volunteer beach clean?

Beach Clean group will be publicising coming activities in the near future.

If you would like to take part in any of these activities, you will need warm, waterproof clothing (at this time of year anyway!) and stout footwear. Tough gardening gloves are a good idea too if you have them.

Taking part in litterpicks is great fun you’ll get plenty of fresh air and exercise and as well as making new friends, there are often fascinating discoveries to be found on the tideline.

As well as helping to address the global problem of pollution in our seas, there is something completely absorbing about walking a tideline, looking out for plastics etc.

You never know what else you may find - an exotic Sea Bean perhaps, carried along by the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and up into the Irish Sea? They are extremely rare, but that makes the find all the more valuable, an experience never to be forgotten.

Not to be mistaken for conkers, which wash up with great frequency, Sea Beans come from a range of South and Central American trees and lianas, carried along across the ocean by currents and their natural buoyancy.

Commoner finds along the tideline include Cuttlefish bone, a wide variety of shells, Mermaid’s Purses, Sea Potatoes and jellyfish (look, but don’t touch).

For more information about beach cleans along the Sefton coast, please email Green Sefton community ranger Jordan Scott at jordan.scott@ greensefton.gov.uk