Beach clean-up group to wage war on single-use plastics with help of National Lottery grant
A charity in Hampshire, which is working with the local community to rid the Solent coast of single-use plastics, has received a grant for almost £138,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to continue its work and attract more volunteers.
Final Straw Foundation was launched just three years ago, but has already made a huge difference to beaches up and down the Solent coast, from the New Forest and Southampton to The Witterings near Chichester and everywhere in between.
The group, which is based in Emsworth, has already carried out an impressive 93 beach cleans since launching, one of which recently resulted in its army of volunteers filling two 17-foot skips, 12 one-tonne grab bags and 34 bin bags with plastic waste.
The funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, will now help them create a team of permanent staff, as well as attract even more ecologically-minded and dedicated volunteers.
It is a passion for the natural world and the UK’s coastline that led founder, Bianca Carr, to launch Final Straw in 2017 with her friend, Lissie. She was introduced to the wonders of the sea through her sailor husband David, who she travelled around the world with as part of the America’s Cup. She soon became passionate about marine conservation and the damaging impact that micro plastics was having on coastlines around the world.
But it was back in the UK and a trip to the beach with her family that inspired Bianca and Lissie to take action. Bianca said: “Final Straw was born after spending a summer on the beach with my children, who I noticed were decorating their sandcastles with different coloured plastic pieces instead of shells like I did as a kid. Then a few days later we were served drinks for the children, all with plastic straws. We didn’t ask for them and they didn’t ask if we wanted them, we were just given them. We decided right then and there that we needed to start a campaign to remove at the very least straws from our small village. We wanted to help make a small difference.”
It was an idea that would go on to make a huge impact, with the charity expanding its activities to carry out over 90 guest assemblies at schools in the area and 55 community workshops on the harmful effects of plastic ingestion and entanglement on marine life. It has also worked with over 700 local businesses to help them find ways to reduce their use of single-use plastics.
The funding will help the charity continue this work as well as continue to host its very own ‘Single-Use Plastic Free Day’, which falls on the 8th May, as a way of honouring the work of Sir David Attenborough on his birthday. Last year saw over 64,000 school children learn more about plastic pollution, with educational resources and ideas for practical activities provided by the charity and even information for parents on how to keep lunch boxes free of single-use plastics.
Projects supporting the preservation of our natural environment is a primary concern for The National Lottery Community Fund. Since 2016, it has awarded almost £400 million through over 6,000 grants working on climate-related issues, and £94 million for projects with a Net Zero focus.
Bianca said: “In the current climate it’s more important than ever to be able to continue with our work. We are beyond grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund and all of the National Lottery players for enabling us to continue with our plans to educate people and reduce plastic pollution. We are so passionate about this topic and know we can continue to make a positive difference.”
Final Straw is just one of 26 projects in Hampshire to receive a share of over £1 million from The National Lottery Community Fund over the last three months*. Across the South East, £7.6 million was awarded to community projects and charities, with a grand total of almost £65 million awarded to over 1,700 community groups across England.
Other organisations to receive National Lottery grants included Action 4 Support on the Isle of White, which received almost £110,000 to support its West Wight Timebank volunteer project, and Headway Basingstoke, which received nearly £10,000 to expand its provision of mental health wellbeing and respite for carers.
Helen Bushell, Senior Head of Regional Funding for London, South East and East of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “It’s great to see the positive impact that National Lottery funding is having on communities across the South East of England, and in the case of Final Straw Foundation, on the health of our coastlines and marine ecology.
“Thanks to National Lottery players, projects such as this are bringing groups of dedicated volunteers together to make changes in their local environment, as well as boosting community spirits after what has been an extremely difficult year.”
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Thanks to National Lottery players, last year we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk