This Sunday I found myself with a grabber, rubber gloves and a sack, walking up and down the pebble banks on Brighton Beach. Collecting everything from fisherman feathers, netting, hooks, plastic bags and bottles, nails from burnt pallets, empty crisp packets, half filled beer cans, broken beer bottles, the odd abandoned flip-flop, a plastic kids spade, a very cheeky bottle opener, and randomly a full pot of unopened bicarbonate of soda. I had joined Leave No Trace, a brilliant charity dedicated to cleaning up the beach we love so much.
I went partly because it’s an amazing cause and our planet deserves better than the mountains of litter we leave behind. As an avid sea swimmer and book reader on the beach, I’m already a regular when it comes to litter picking on the beach. But I guess if I am being truly honest, I also went because I wanted to meet new people and in my opinion, there is no better sort of person to meet than someone who cares enough to spend their weekend picking up rubbish.
It was so heart-warming and extremely humbling. We all laughed about the strangest things we found (the cheeky willy bottle opener was the champion). Shared stories about why we had turned up, and who we were. I worked side by side with people I had never met before. It was so comforting being with people who see the same problems and decide to do something about it, with no fuss, not too many moans, just action.
By the end, my bag was heavy, but my heart felt wonderfully light. I loved it so much I have now put the other beach clean dates in my diary and signed up to a charity called GoodGym (I was introduced to this charity by someone at the beach clean), who do equally lovely work helping communities without ever shamelessly shouting about it. They run, walk or cycle to a job which might be community gardening, befriending old people, volunteering at the food bank or do their own beach cleans. After the job is completed, they then run, walk and cycle back. Keeping fit, helping people and meeting new people, what a beautiful combination.
On the walk home, after a glorious sea swim, a free ice cream and little lunch with friends, I kept thinking about the newsletter I sent a few weeks ago. How sometimes it’s OK to receive a gift or a little help, and how having a small business can often feel a bit like standing on a very big beach by yourself, with far too much litter to clear alone.
However, when you leave me a kind review, tell a friend about what I make, or just send a thoughtful message, it feels exactly like someone has a grabber and is picking up rubbish from my beach and saying ‘I’m here with you’.
So here’s to the people who care, in our communities, and right here, supporting small businesses like mine and theirs ‘Leave No Trace’ and 'Goodgym’. I’m so grateful to be reminded that none of us have to do it alone.
If you fancy getting involved in a beach clean or joining GoodGym (they are nationwide), I can not recommend it enough. If you would like to help me keep my little corner of the world going and litter free, please know that your support; telling friends, your comments, your shares, your reviews makes more of a difference than you’ll ever realise.
Here’s to leaving no trace, to meeting good people, and to picking up the pieces together.
All my love
Emily xxx