Event will highlightrubbish washed upon our coastline

The beachcombing event is being led by Andy Dinsdale from the RSPCA’s Mallydams Wood reserve at Fairlight.

It is an opportunity for people of all ages to learn the story behind the ‘rubbish’ that is washed up on our beaches and put it to good use.

Among items Andy has discovered washed up on the Rye are shore-line is a tag from a lobster pot complete with the name of the fisherman based in New York .

He said: “At Pett Level and Rye Harbour over the Marine Conservation Society’s Big Beachwatch we bagged 13kg of rubbish and passed the details to the Marine Conservation Society to be part of their national and international lobbying to help change our marine debris problem.

“Approximately 70 % of all collected rubbish was made of plastic. If scientists don’t know how long plastic will last in the sea before it biodegrades completely, then what are we leaving for our future generations? What is it going to take to curb our plastic throwaway habits?”

The Beach Combing event will take place at 10am at Winchelsea Beach, meeting at the Dogs Hill toilet block.

Wear sturdy shoes with closed toes and bring a bag to take your finds away with you. Participants will be encouraged to donate their finds to the Follow the Herring project, in which experienced knitters are taking on the challenge of knitting without yarn but using only materials that would otherwise end up in landfill such as video tape and punctured inner tubes of bicycle tyres.

A free ‘Using Beach Finds’ session takes place at Stade Hall, Hastings on June 25 at 6pm. Children accompanied by adults are welcome.

This is a opportunity to learn new facts and creative skills. Contact Janey Moffatt on 07535 279444.