Actisense and St Edward’s School join forces in Big Baiter Beach Clean Up

Staff from Actisense, the multi-award winning, marine electronics specialist, were joined by students from St Edward’s School in a beach clean up with SEA LIFE Trust, collecting an incredible 35 kilos of rubbish in 2 hours.

Pupils and staff from St Edward’s School joined staff from marine electronic specialists, Actisense, along with staff and volunteers from Poole-based charity, SEA LIFE Trust, for a clean-up of the beach in Baiter Park. Although the weather was extremely cold and grey, the Group were undeterred. In the two-hour litter-picking session, they collected a massive 35 kilograms of rubbish. Along with the usual empty crisp packets, water bottles and drink cans, the group also picked up traffic cones, a baseball bat and single-use plastic drink-carrying holders – often responsible for marine birds getting their heads stuck.

Phil Whitehurst, CEO of Actisense, says: “Although the conditions weren’t brilliant, it didn’t put anyone off. The students from St Edward’s School remained positive and enthusiastic throughout and there was a great community spirit as we all worked together to help reduce our impact on the oceans. Because of the nature of our work, protecting the environment, especially our beautiful coastal waters, is an issue that we at Actisense are totally committed to.”

Actisense has formed close links with St Edward’s, a comprehensive which educates more than 1000 students and is one of only a handful of joint-church schools in the country. The Marine Specialists support the school and mentor students, encouraging them to consider a career in STEM and explaining the opportunities available to them.

Michael Antram, Head Teacher of St Edward’s, continues: “We greatly value our relationship with Actisense and our students were very keen to work alongside them to help clean up our beautiful beach. The amount of rubbish they found was a real eye-opener for them and an issue I am sure they will discuss with their friends and families, raising even greater awareness of the damage thoughtless littering does to our planet.”

The Baiter Park Beach Clean Up was organised by The SEA LIFE Trust, a registered charity working globally to protect the world’s oceans and the marine life that lies within them. Actisense has been working with the organisation on a range of initiatives to combat plastic and other environmental problems.

Beccy Briley, Fundraiser for The SEA LIFE Trust, adds: “The Beach Clean-Ups are a very tangible demonstration of the rubbish and plastic problem. It’s always shocking for litter-pickers to see how much gets collected in just a couple of hours. It was so good to have the involvement of the pupils from St Edward’s School. After all, they, and their peers, are the future caretakers of this beautiful planet of ours.”

For more information on Actisense visit: www.actisense.com

To learn more about the work of The SEA LIFE Trust, go to: https://www.sealifetrust.org; and for St Edward’s RC/CE School, see: http://website.network.st-edwards.poole.sch.uk/