Two Boats (& Lots of Volunteers) to clean the beach

May 9, 2021

Successful rubbish retrieval as Strandliners clean the beach. 

A very busy time at the boathouse today, helping with the big beach clean up at the Fairlight Berm. But it’s fair to say that Strandliners volunteers had already done the real work – an amazing job of sorting, recording and then bagging up the assorted debris, rubbish and pollution stuck at the berm area of Fairlight Cove.

50+ Strandliners volunteers have been extremely busy with this over the last few weeks, putting in over 150 hours of volunteer time in the process …

beach cleanup 2020

Strandliners volunteers came to Pett Level to assist bringing the bags up from the boat and to raise public awareness about the extent of the pollution problem.

volunteers time at beach clean up

Strandliners showed examples of pollution and rubbish to look out for, and shared data on their finds.

As removal of the bagged up rubbish is only possible by boat, both our inshore rescue boats were launched.  With the backdrop of a dramatic sky, the crews made several trips to and fro between Fairlight Cove and Pett Level.
 
In all, the bulk of the rubbish was all safely retrieved over a period of approximately 2 hours, with a combined group of PLIRB and Strandliners volunteers carrying the rubbish up the beach to Pett Slip, ready for collection by Rother District Council next week.

 

PLIRB volunteers assisting beach clean up 2021

Transporting the rubbish by boat is the only way to remove the pollution from the berm area of the Fairlight Cove.

plenty of volunteers came along to help clean the beach

Volunteer support to bring the rubbish up the beach for removal by council services was essential!

volunteers collaborated to clean the beach

Find out more about local beach clean up operations

Although StrandlinersCIC were able to share some of the info about this beach clean up on the day, there is pleny more information to come once the data has been collated and reviewed.

Andy Dinsdale of Strandliners is hoping to give a presentation of the full findings about the impact of pollution in the local area soon. Please do visit the EVENTS section of the Strandliners website to find out about this. Their poster (below) also has details on how to get involved …

Strandliners CIC beach cleaning 2021

Thanks to all our volunteers for their hard work today and a huge well done on such an amazing beach cleaning job to Strandliners.

Donations are very welcome, thank you.

Whilst you’re here …

As an independent charity providing rescue services, we are run solely by volunteers.

We receive no government or central funding and have to fundraise every penny needed to buy and maintain our equipment and to pay our considerable running costs.

Since the start of 2020, our running costs have increased to around £10,000 a year.

If you like the work we do and would like to support us, your donation would really be appreciated.

Anything you can spare will help us to help those in danger on our local coastline.

Thank you so much, from the volunteers at Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat.

Beach Cleaning Support for Strandliners

May 8, 2021

Lockdown has lifted just enough for us to help out a community beach cleaning project. 

Yes, we’re happy to share that on Sunday 9th May we’ll once again be helping Strandliners CIC in a major beach cleaning project. As the main photo above shows, the volunteers at Strandliners have been working hard to clear rubbish and pollution from the Cliff End and Fairlight Berm areas.

As regular readers of the blog will remember,  Strandliners organised a similar clean-up of the huge amount of plastic pollution, polystyrene and general rubbish at the berm last September.

This is a hard-to reach area of the coast which, because of the tidal flow, does tend to be a drop-zone for water-borne pollution. Once stuck behind the rocks though, it tends to stay, having a major impact on the wildlife and environment around the Berm.

So, once it’s all bagged up, there’s only one way to get the rubbish out of there …

 

beach cleanup 2020

Our volunteer crews ready to launch for the clean up last September

beach cleanup fairlight 2020

Bringing the rubbish from the boat to the slipway is all part of the clean up task.

The easiest way to remove the bagged up bulk is by boat. So, weather and ‘Shouts’ permitting, on Sunday 9th May around 11 am, we’ll be launching one or both of our boats, to go across to the berm. Once there, our crews and Strandliners volunteers will load up the boats with the rubbish and our crews will bring it back to the Pett Slip.

From there, it will be picked up by Rother Council, and there’s sure to be a lot of it, as the amount of bags from last September shows …

PLIRB community beach cleaning 2021

Get involved in beach cleaning …

This will all take place as part of our Sunday training and maintenance session at the boathouse. Some of the volunteers from StrandlinersCIC will also be at Pett Slip, so please do come and talk to them about their work and how to get involved in local beach cleaning – either as a volunteer with the group or as an individual.

As before, it’s important to mention that this beach cleaning project hasn’t just involved picking up rubbish and pollutants. Every single item being removed has been counted and sorted before being bagged up for removal. There’s more information from Strandliners in the poster below …

Strandliners CIC beach cleaning 2021

If you’d like to get involved at whatever level suits you as we come out of lockdown, please do pop down.

Andy of  Strandliners (pictured below from last year’s clean up) should be available to talk about the work of Strandliners. He’ll be at the boathouse end of the slip, outside and socially distanced, of course. Andy and Strandliners volunteers will be happy to explain how even the smallest clean up is welcome, and why the recording the rubbish and pollution along the coastline is a vital part of the campaign to clean up our coastline.

We are very pleased to be able to assist with beach cleaning community project, and to help preserve our local beaches. Check back for updates and photos this Spring’s rubbish retrieval soon!

If you would like to know more about Strandliners please visit www.Strandliners.org or follow on Twitter at info@strandlinerscic.

Poster credit: thanks to StrandlinersCIC 

Donations are very welcome, thank you.

Whilst you’re here …

As an independent charity providing rescue services, we are run solely by volunteers.

We receive no government or central funding and have to fundraise every penny needed to buy and maintain our equipment and to pay our considerable running costs.

Since the start of 2020, our running costs have increased to around £10,000 a year.

If you like the work we do and would like to support us, your donation would really be appreciated.

Anything you can spare will help us to help those in danger on our local coastline.

Thank you so much, from the volunteers at Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat.

PLIRB Charity Events – Save The Date

Apr 12, 2021

A quick update on our return to the ‘new normal’ as restrictions start to ease and we all follow the roadmap.

charity events update

Although we’ve stayed rescue-ready throughout all lock downs, it’s certainly fair to say that now restrictions are starting to lift, our volunteers are glad to be back to more of a community and boathouse presence.

As such, it’s time for a quick update on future plans and catching up with our charity events!

Open Day on the way?

Although we’re a bit sad that, for the second year running we can’t hold our May Open Day, we remain hopeful to be able to do so later in the year. The provisional date is for Sunday 29th August 2021. Please do save this potential date, which will be subject to any restrictions at that time.

Hot Tub Grand Draw

Our plan has always been that the fantastic Homewood Leisure Hot Tub Grand Draw would take place at our Open Day. So, in line with the change of date, please be aware that the draw will now take place on Sunday 29th August also.

Barbara’s Charity Shed

Barbara’s charity shed will be opening up as soon as possible once restrictions for non-essential shops are eased from 12th April. However, it’s proved a very cold Spring so far, so opening may be limited to those warmer hours of a Sunday.

Ongoing fundraisers

Without our community fundraising and running our own charity events, resources have been very stretched for us. For the time being, our ongoing fundraisers include:

  • The Homewood Leisure Hot Tub Grand Draw, with tickets available from our boathouse, from Fairlight Stores and Post Office, from The Old Butcher’s, Pett and of course from the generous donor, Homewood Leisure.
  • Our 2022 calendar photo competition. Like the raffle, the launch of this fundraiser stalled with the New year lockdown. However we’re hopeful that, now people can be out and about a little more safely and a little more often, the photograph entries for this competition will start coming in!
  • Our participation in the Weather Lottery. This lottery has been a bit of a lifeline in generating a little regular income for us over the last two lockdowns. We’ve set a goal of achieving 100 players in 2021, so the Weather Lottery are organising some new flyers for us (free of charge) and we hope to do a leaflet drop in the local area next month once restrictions ease further. If you’d like to find out more in the meantime, please visit our page at the Weather Lottery.

 

We look forward to updating you further as things open up a little more. In the meantime, #staysafe and #beachaware out there.

PLIRB Boathouse and the New Normal

Mar 17, 2021

As restrictions start to ease, here’s a quick update on our return to the ‘new normal’ at the boathouse.

 

charity events
Although our volunteers have been #rescueready 24/7 throughout the pandemic, our presence at the boathouse has been minimal. This has helped us to keep everyone safe, and to also so that we’re complying with general restrictions. As such, we’ve been limiting our visits to the boathouse to just those sessions necessary for keeping the equipment serviced and ready for call-outs.
However, the government’s ‘road map’ now guides us all towards a restart. So, we’re pleased to share that a phased return to our Sunday sessions will begin on Sunday March 28th. To start with it will still be just a few of our volunteers but we’ll gradually build things back up as restrictions lift further in the coming months.

 

A busy new normal
Being back at the boathouse means we can start carrying out our other essential work on equipment and around the base. It also means our crew training sessions can restart, in readiness for the beach getting busier. After all,  with overall restrictions lifting off the back of the Easter break and just as spring is in full bloom, we’re expecting visitor numbers to the beach to increase in much the same way as they did once restrictions were lifted last summer. It’s important to us and to the general safety of the area that we’re ready to assist when the new normal means an extra busy beach.
 
 
Our volunteers are very glad to be returning to the community with a more active presence. We certainly look forward to having friends, supporters and the public pop in to visit us at the boathouse once it’s permitted in a couple of months’ time.
 
 
Until then though, and particularly whilst mixing is still very limited, our new normal means the boathouse is only open to our volunteers. If you’re passing on a Sunday morning, perhaps just give us a wave or a thumbs up in greeting, so we can all continue to  stay safe for as long as necessary.

THE PANDEMIC HAS HAD A SEVERE IMPACT ON OUR INDEPENDENT RESCUE BOAT CHARITY.

IT HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO FUND RAISE OR ACCESS GOVERNMENT GRANTS

TO HELP WITH OUR £10k A YEAR RUNNING COSTS.

If you would like to make a donation to help us meet our running costs, then you’ll be actively getting on board with us to save lives – you won’t be in the boat, but your donation will be keeping us afloat and rescue ready.

Thank you so much!

DONATIONS ARE PARTICULARLY WELCOME AT THIS DIFFICULT TIME

PLIRB 2022 Calendar Photo Competition Fundraiser

Mar 2, 2021

Remember we promised that the next Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat calendar would be a little different?

Well, here’s the plan … instead of us taking our own photos for our 2022 fundraiser calendar, we’d love to invite our friends, supporters and everyone across our Sussex coastal and inland communities to submit their photos , as we launch our fabulous PLIRB Calendar 2022 photo competition!

 

Now, we know there are lots of beautiful local images out there because we see them on social media! Already in 2021 we’ve seen stunning snow, striking sunrises, scenic sunsets, beautiful beach shots and a magnificent Snow Moon … all taken around and about our lovely local area!

So, we’re hoping others will feel inspired to contribute photos for our competition. The  12 months of the year make it easy to find a seasonal category to suit your shot and mean we can offer 12 prizes. But hey, as we like to do things a little differently, we’re pleased to say there’s also an overall winner prize up for grabs too!

* 12 winning photos will be chosen, with each winner’s photo featuring as the month’s image in our 2022 calendar – one chosen from each category.

* Each winner will also receive two free copies of the calendar as their prize.

* One overall competition winner will be chosen and will receive a canvas print of their winning shot.

The competition runs from March 1st to September 30th 2021, but the month / category you choose doesn’t have to be the month your photo was taken – it just has to suit the season. So, if you feel your snowy shingle and sand shot taken this February is rather Christmassy, you could enter it in the December category – it’s up to you!

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

* You can enter up to 3 images.

* Images should be in landscape format and a minimum size / quality of 4MB please.

* The file name of the photo should include: the location of the shot, the photographer’s name; the month of the category you’re entering, eg: PettLevel_ASmith_Dec.

* Each entry should be accompanied by a donation to PLIRB, please. A minimum donation of £5 would be most welcome. Donations should be made through our dedicated calendar photo competition donation page.

* Photos of Pett Level will of course be a real focus (see what we did there?) but we also invite photos from all around our local coastal and inland rescue service vicinity. For example, views from across the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Ecclesbourne Glen, Fairlight, and Winchelsea Beach areas, plus there are stunning shots to be taken of the coastal views as seen from Icklesham, Udimore and Winchelsea.

* By entering our photo competition you are giving us permission to (a) share your entry on our website and social media (b) print your photograph in our calendar, if you are chosen as a winner.

Full terms and conditions for entering this competition are HERE.

TO ENTER:

1) Make your donation via the competition donation page (minimum £5 per entry) using the donation button. Add your name and the category (month) you’d like your photo to be considered for in the message part of the donation.  You could also add your own message if you’d like to – we love to hear from our supporters!

THEN …

2) Please send an email with your photo attached to plirbphotocomp@gmail.com.

Within the email please include:

* The category (month) you’re entering (just in case it’s missing off the file name).

* Name and contact details (including telephone number).

TIMELINE:

* The competition closes at 23:59 on Thursday 30th September 2021. After this, no more entries will be accepted and our judges will have the difficult task of choosing the winning photos.

* The winners will be announced in October 2021 (date to be confirmed once judges have been confirmed).

* Calendars will be printed and available from November 2021. Winners will be invited to visit our boathouse to receive their copies of the calendar as soon as these are available.

 

Sorry, but there has to be a little small print

Our work isn’t just about saving lives, it’s also about prevention and raising awareness about general and local beach safety. As such, we really want to be able to share local photographs. So, please understand that by entering this competition you’re giving us permission to share your photo online. Full credit will be given (unless you ask to be kept anonymous of course) and the copyright remains with you.

Our charity is all about saving lives and keeping our beaches and coastal areas safe from hazards and danger. It’s fair to say that once the third lockdown hit, meeting our £10,000 a year running costs has become a significant challenge – with our income from fundraising down 95% compared to 2019.

By submitting your photos and supporting our competition, you will literally be helping our charity to stay afloat and #rescueready so that we can continue saving lives at sea.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST & YOUR SUPPORT

CLICK TO VISIT THE COMPETITION DONATION PAGE TO GET STARTED