The National Trust
The UK’s biggest conservation charity cares for over 40% of the Cornish coastline, and that includes its beaches. They organise monthly beach cleans at some of the county’s most popular coastal spots in south Cornwall.
The Roseland Peninsula
Hemmick Beach beach clean — on the first Saturday of each month
Pendower Beach beach clean — on the first Monday of each month
Porthcurnick Beach beach clean — on the first Monday of each month
The Lizard
Poldhu Beach clean — on the first Friday of each month
Beach Guardian
This father-and-daughter duo from Cornwall work to raise awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans through school workshops and regular beach cleans. They have organised hundreds of beach cleans to date, coordinating regular events at Constantine Bay, Harlyn Bay, Trevone Bay and Porthcothan Bay in north Cornwall in the spring and summer. Check out their Facebook page for upcoming beach cleans.
The Marine Conservation Society
This UK charity, which campaigns for cleaner, better-protected oceans, hosts the Great British Beach Clean every September, a week-long event involving hundreds of beach cleans in the UK. Thousands of people descend on Cornwall’s beaches for the event, including dozens of the most popular holiday spots, from Mevagissey and Newquay to Bude, Porthtowan and Watergate Bay. Each single piece of litter, however tiny, is recorded, and the data is used to shape the charity’s future campaigns against plastic pollution.
Find more ways to get involved.
Surfers Against Sewage
The national marine conservation charity organises beach cleans throughout the UK for their Million Mile Clean campaign. So far, they have organised over 4,000 events, collecting nearly half a million kilos of rubbish. In Cornwall, cleans take place in Portreath, Perranporth and Watergate Bay on the north coast, in Penzance and nine beaches around Falmouth in south Cornwall, and on Truro River.
Plastic Free Communities
This is network of communities in the UK tackling single-use plastic, organised by Surfers Against Sewage; there are dozens of groups in Cornwall that have won plastic free community status. The communities organise regular local beach cleans in various locations, including Falmouth, Newquay, Penzance, Padstow and Fowey. It’s worth looking on their individual Facebook pages to see what they’re doing and when the next beach clean event is happening.