Brighton's own Ocean's 8 team to tackle plastic on the beach

This summer, an all-star cast combined to make up the cast of Ocean’s 8, a film in which a team of the best thieves in their fields plan a $150 million heist.

Melanie Rees, director of Green Centre Creative and founder of Ocean’s 8 Brighton, saw this concept and applied it to the city’s environmental cause.

She said: “I imagined the amazing women who lead projects across Brighton standing together with a stunning blue ocean as a backdrop serving as a reminder of the beauty of our planet.”

She made a list of Brighton’s long-established grass-roots projects and, from this, recruited eight of Brighton’s top female eco-activists to join forces and rid the ocean of its plastic pollution problem.

Clare Osborn, campaign manager for Incredible Oceans and Ocean’s 8 Brighton member, said: “I think it’s such an awesome idea to highlight grassroots projects and show what we can achieve if we work together and share our expertise.”

Upon hearing of the idea, photographer Alex Bamford offered to recreate the film’s poster, replacing the faces of the original cast with those of the eight environmentalists.

After focusing on their individual projects over the summer, the team plan to assemble in September to plunder the plastic from Brighton’s seas.

Cat Fletcher, founder of Freegle and member of Ocean’s 8 Brighton, said: “It’s been a great collaboration so far and I am really looking to being part of such a great team.”

Ocean’s 8 Brighton is made up of Cat Fletcher, Melanie Rees, Claire Potter, Chloe Hanks, Louise McCurdy, Clare Osborn, Amy Gibson, Atlanta Cook and Mala Nathan.

To find out more, visit: www.oceans8brighton.online