Published June 20th, 2023
South West SPAR wholesaler, Appleby Westward, has held several beach cleans across the region in support of Surfers Against Sewage’s initiative and World Ocean Day 2023.
The beach cleans were organised to coincide with World Ocean Day on Thursday 8 June 2023 and involved team members from Appleby Westward’s head office, South West SPAR store teams, and members of the public. The initiative was organised in partnership with Surfers Against Sewage, which kindly provided equipment to use on the cleans.
Two of the beach cleans were held at Seaton Beach in Cornwall and Wembury Beach in Devon and were attended by members of Appleby Westward’s head office team. Other beach cleans were organised and attended by Appleby Westward Area Managers and Business Development Managers and took place across the region, including Seatown Beach and Eype Beach in Dorset, Eastney Beach in Portsmouth and Bigbury Beach and Westward Ho! in Devon.
Around 20 volunteers attended each beach clean and collected at least two bags of litter per clean. The Seaton Beach and Wembury Beach cleans contributed a mile and a half to Surfers Against Sewage’s Million Mile Clean initiative alone.
Sean Johnson, Appleby Westward Business Development Manager, organised cleans on Eype Beach and Seatown Beach in Dorset which were attended by Sean and team members from SPAR stores in the local area, as well as members of the public. These beach cleans were organised in collaboration with West Dorset Leisure Holidays and team members from its onsite SPAR stores also attended the beach cleans.
Sean said: “It’s important we all play our part in keeping our local beaches clean and free of litter and it’s great that we are able to take time to do this at Appleby Westward. We have some stunning coastlines in the South West and many of our stores are close to them and benefit from the additional trade they bring in the summer. The team at Surfers Against Sewage have been so helpful and generous throughout the organisation process and we’re really lucky to have had their support.”
The beach cleans have been included in Surfers Against Sewage’s Million Mile Clean initiative: a movement created in 2021 which aims to inspire 100,000 people each year to clean 10 miles of beach, parks, rivers, and even mountains. The scheme will run until 2030 when one million volunteers will have taken part in cleaning ten million miles of UK landscape.
Appleby Westward has its own community care initiative named Nurture Our Neighbourhoods, which encourages its SPAR stores to look after their local communities across the South West in any way they can, including raising money for local organisations, donating produce and supplies to schools, churches and food banks, planting trees, and holding beach cleans and litter picks.
To find out more about the Nurture Our Neighbourhoods initiative, visit: www.spar.co.uk.
To find out more about the Surfers Against Sewage Million Mile Clean, visit: https://www.sas.org.uk/plastic-pollution/million-mile-clean/.
