Locals who want to keep the beach clean often do their own thing to pick up the mess that other people leave.
There is however a group on Facebook called the Big Blackpool Beach Clean where locals can organise themselves into litter patrols and socialise while they sanitize.
The group came after local lad Steven King went viral on Lad bible for a video that he made in 2019. The beach had been void of visitors for a good number of months and after the fist weekend of visitors he was horrified to see the debris left by people here for a nice day out.
It’s not for the lack of bins or council staff emptying them – there are hundreds of bins of all shapes and sizes along the length of the promenade but people are reluctant to use them often leaving all sorts of mess behind from buckets and spades and drinks bottles to nappies and used wipes. It all goes into the sea unless someone stops it…
Please bookmark this page to find out about updates from this group in the future.
History
The Big Blackpool Beach clean started in 2020 When local lad Steven King decided to look for other like minded volunteers to join him litter picking. He has been picking up litter on the beach since he was 13 and he started 23 years ago – so you can work out his age from that.
His exploits had been picked up by national newspapers when lad bible did a feature video on him after a night picking litter on the beach alone. He generated a silly amount of bin bags in the space of 4 hours.
Steven spent many nights on the beach cleaning up after tourists and his frequent posting about it on the group helped to spur others on – helping to keep Blackpool Tidy. Steven’s work has also seen him appointed as an ambassador for the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign.
This has seen The Big Blackpool Beach Clean group involved in many different campaigns including for local MPs and awareness campaigns with local scout groups like 1st Norbreck Scouts.
During the pandemic – after lockdown restrictions were eased off – groups of volunteers were meeting regularly to exercise and volunteer to help their local area by picking up litter – the beaches were left in some awful states that summer. But the volunteers from the group did their best alongside the council – to ensure that the beachfront was kept as clean and tidy as possible – whilst also making tourists aware of how much effort goes into keeping the area clean.
Some of the litter picked up that year would really surprise you.
Images of some of the filth found on the beach
Fast forward to Now
Now that Illuminations season is in full swing it gives Steven and the other group members a bit of time to take stock of where the group is heading and how it will come back stronger than ever in 2024.
Community / group litter picks will be scheduled for regular dates over the winter
Social events scheduled for fundraising and networking
Involvement in local events like light pool festival and at concerts and events on the promenade
How can you help?
The group is always looking for donations to help fund equipment purchases and community clean up campaigns. If you would like to donate please click THIS LINK – or check out the AMAZON WISH LIST
You can Buy a Big Blackpool Beach Clean Bracelet for £3.99 to help support the cause – Please inbox the FB page for more info
2024 will also be bringing a range of merch like calendars – re-usable shopping bags – t-shirts – hats and re-usable drinking containers. Keep an eye out for news about them on this page and on their FB page.
a portion of the profits of all these items will go toward the RNLI
If you’re a local business and would like to get involved with or sponsor the activities of this group please get in touch on Facebook
Register as a litter picking Volunteer
If you would like to register as a litter picking volunteer please inbox us on facebook so we can get some basic details from you to keep you informed of our upcoming events. Volunteers must be over 18 or accompanied by an adult.
Videos
Over the years Steven has taken clips of and snaps of some of the litter picks he’s carried out – but Next week we plan to film an interview based litter pick with a local YouTube star – Mr Walk on the wild side himself – Stephen Cheatley
Videos will be published on social media channels including Youtube – please head over and subscribe now.
If you would like to come along on one of our litter picking interviews please inbox us on Facebook