March 2013

South West Sea Champions from Plymouth,

Exeter, Bristol and Gloucestershire joined us at

our rally for 127 Marine Conservation Zones in

London last week— a great day for English

seas.

Almost 2,000 turned up to show politicians just

how much they care about marine conservation

and how angry they feel about the Govern-

ment's clear lack of ambition when it comes to

protecting our marine life. Special thanks to all

the Champions who made the march possible

by building support for the cause over the last

few months. Thanks also to Champs Harry

Palmer and Katie Macer-Wright for supplying

these great pictures of the day.

What Do We Want? 127 Marine Conservation Zones!

You’ve collected thousands of pledges, written to your MP and supported the

Westminster rally—marine conservation zones have become a national discussion.

Now it’s time to prove how much we need this network of protected sites.

Live near Torbay, Skerries Bank or Falmouth? Download the Seasearch Report for

your area and read about the importance of marine protection there. You’re ready

to send a detailed response to your MP! Email me for an example letter...

You can also contact DEFRA with a more detailed response wherever you live. Visit

our consultation page, pick a zone from the map and describe why it matters to you.

The Seasearch reports above have great examples of answers you could give… If

you’re stuck or if you’ve finished your response please let me know!

The Big Beach Clean-up

M&S Store Visits, Beach Clean Dates & Registration

Sunday 17th March, 7.00pm—Sea Champs Get Together

Plymouth Barbican / Waterfront, (venue to be confirmed)

Monday 18th March, 2.00pm—M&S Plymouth

Tuesday 19th March, 10.00am—M&S Torbay

Tuesday 19th March, 2.00pm—M&S Exeter

Thursday 21st March 10.00am—M&S Taunton

Thursday 21st March 2.00pm—M&S Weston-super-Mare

Friday 22nd March 10.00am—M&S Cribbs Causeway, Bristol

Friday 12th April 10.00am—M&S Hayle

Friday 12th April 2.00pm—M&S Falmouth

Best wishes, Patrick Joel

Volunteer Coordinator

South West England

In May last year we held the first Big Beach Clean-up where 50 beach cleans and surveys were run by MCS teams around the country. 52 members of MCS staff spent the weekend at the beach together with some of our first ever Sea Champions. M&S staff cleaned 40 more beaches.

The Big Beach Clean-up is one of our best chances to show the public what we’re all about—we can invite people to join us at the beach, share the problems of coastal pollution and give details of our campaigns. Last year many beachgoers began supporting MCS after Big Beach Clean-up events. We need to let everyone know they can make a difference by working with us this April—at a Big Beach Clean-up near you…

M&S Store Visits

Over the weeks ahead we’ll be

visiting as many M&S stores as

possible. With just a roller banner

and a box of leaflets we can

describe the events and register

customers in store to come and take part. We’ll also take time to

meet M&S staff teams and catch up about their support for Sea

Champions and their plans for beach cleans. We’d love you to join

us there—check your diary and drop me a line if you can come along

for an hour or two. Last thing to mention—if you’re near Plymouth on

Sunday 17th March come and join us at our Sea Champions get

together in the evening.

Batten Bay 27 Chesil Cove 1 Gwithian 6 Sand Bay 10

Beacon Cove 5 Colwell Bay 4 Harbourside Park 0 Solent Beach 3

Berrow Beach 3 Croyde 0 Milford-on-Sea 10 Uphill Beach 3

Blackpool Sands 2 Exmouth 2 Netley Abbey 12

Registrations

So Far..!

Joining a Beach Clean You can sign up for a beach clean by visiting the Big Beach Clean-up webpage. Once you’ve found an event that suits you register on line. If you can let us know which beach clean you’ll be visiting we can put you in touch with other Sea Champions heading there too. Any offers of help with car-sharing will be very welcome as usual.

I’ll be lending a hand at four (maybe five) beach cleans in the week:

Tuesday 23rd April—Chesil Wednesday 24th April—Southsea Friday 26th April—Batten Bay (TBC) Saturday 27th April—Gwithian Sunday 28th April—Sand Bay

Helping On the Day

You can go along and enjoy the day just by

registering, but if you want to get more involved…

Bring a camera and share your pics of the day

Have a chat with other beachgoers and share our MCS messages—need leaflets? Shout!

Anyone interested in becoming a member, a donor or a Sea Champion? Put us in touch!

Many M&S teams will be leading beach cleans for the first time—if you’re happy to lend a hand (and thank them for their amazing support…) you’ll be helping everyone enjoy their day

Thanks very much, and look forward to seeing you at the beach!

Dates For Your Diary For further details–drop me an email!

Newquay Marine Awareness Fundraiser

Sea Champ Clare Robinson representing MCS

8.00pm, Thursday 14th March

Sea Champions Get Together, Plymouth

Waterfront

7.00pm, Sunday 17th March

Ross on Wye Fundraiser—It’s Quiz Time!

Sea Champ Izzy Sets the Questions

7.00pm, Friday 22nd March

Forest of Dean Half Marathon

Come and support Sea Champ Katie!

24th March

Fundraising Corner!Katie’s full running journal will return in our April bulletin but this month we’ve received an update from Katie on February training and from Emily who’s living plastic-free in Bristol!

Super-duper start and a super-duper end to February, with a

bit of a wibble in the middle! But who can complain about 63

miles in a month and having a raised money total of over

£400?

This month also saw

the brilliant rally in

London which I was

lucky enough to attend.

The fact the rally has

been televised has

given me a good

excuse to ask more

people for

sponsorships, people

who I may not have

asked before. It kind of

goes like this “hey, did you see Hugh's Fish Fight? You've

just got to watch it on Thursday where there's going to be a

bit about the London rally I went to. See if you can spot me.

Oh by the way, would you care to sponsor me for doing the

Half Marathon?”

Katie Macer-Wright

Plastic free living is in its third week and the reality of the

challenge is starting to set in. Losing the convenience of

nipping to a shop

during lunch hour and

on my way home is

most difficult; however

the fantastic support

and donations received

are keeping me going.

Blogging about the

experience is spreading

the word far and wide,

with over 1700 views

across Europe,

America and Canada. I’m hoping that this will raise

awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution and how

people can reduce their own plastic footprint. Five Gyres, a

US organisation, state “the solution to marine plastic

pollution starts with you”. Visit my most recent blog post to

link to the 5 simple things you can do to reduce plastic

litter. Thanks everyone!

Emily Smith

Marine Conservation Society

Overross House, Ross Park, Ross-on-Wye

HR9 7US

Registered Charity

England and Wales No. 1004005

Scotland No. SC037480

Action Stations! Three Quick Wins in March...

If you haven’t already—get stuck in to the Don’t Let

Go Action Pack...

You can find the action pack at the Don’t Let Go

webpage, with a booklet, poster and leaflet all

available to download.

Contact your Council

Many councils have committed never to allow

balloon releases on their land—has yours? Drop

your local authority a line and ask them to

confirm… If you find there’s still a need to win their

commitment let us know—we can discuss the best

ways to approach your council and prevent balloon

releases in your area.

Heard about a forthcoming release?

Report it first. Then download the letter you’ll find

with the Don’t Let Go resources and write to the

organizer. If you feel happier writing as part of a

group, remember, there are hundreds of fellow

Sea Champions waiting to back you up! Get in

touch to request support from the whole team and

let’s get balloon and lantern releases dealt with.