Fund raising litter picker reaches one thousand pound milestone for RNLI.

Concerned about her children injuring themselves on discarded bbqs, bottles and cans, she returned with black sacks and collected eight large bin bags full of discarded rubbish. However she soon realised that not everything was rubbish. People were leaving behind clothing, beach towels, buckets and spades, an unused bbq still in its box and even tents.
Sophie, who moved here from Southampton two years ago, washed the clothes and placed a rail outside her house selling items at 50p each. Anything that she felt was personal was advertised on the Lost and Found facebook page and held onto so people had a chance to collect it and blankets donated to the local animal charities.
Having advertised what she was doing on social media she found that people were dropping items off for her at her house on their way back from the beach, and supportive local people were joining her on her evening beach cleans.

With the money starting to add up Sophie decided to donate all the money that she collects through a Just Giving Page to the RNLI with all the cash going to Ramsgate RNLI. She decided to donate to the RNLI after hearing about the rescues that had been carried out in the local areas, and also because the beach is patrolled by RNLI Lifeguards. As Sophie said, she wanted to give something back to the people who watched over the people on the beach and in the sea.

Sophie originally joked that if she reached £500 she would dress up as Mr Blobby for her litter pick. Today she reached £1000, way above what she anticipated collecting, and so she is honouring her promise of wearing the Mr Blobby outfit on the beach.

We spoke to Sophie this morning just before she headed out to the beach and asked her what inspired her to do this.

She said, “ As a geography teacher I’m passionate about our environment so starting near to home keeping an area that I love clean was an obvious thing to do. But I also use it for my mental health and as a means of fitness, especially when I’m pulling my camping trailer filled with black sacks along behind me up the slope from the beach. During the school holidays I take my children down to the beach but even in the winter I will go down nearly every day to enjoy the fresh air and the views.
My dream is that a whole community is inspired to join in and we have people doing the same thing all along our coasts, stopping all this so called rubbish from going into the sea and protecting our environment.”

Arrangements are being made for Sophie, her supportive husband Tom and their two children to visit Ramsgate RNLI station for a presentation. In the meantime Sophie said that after she returns to work in September and the beaches become quieter, she has plans to take her litter picking further inland.