Project Gather Starts! Solway Firth Partnership has been awarded a Marine Fund Scotland grant from The Scottish Government. Project Gather celebrates volunteers who are effective cleaners of our coast, targeting beaches that collect marine litter to make the coast better for people and nature. As well as encouraging community beach cleans and recording the debris removed from beaches the project will reveal the world of the beachcomber and the stories of stuff found.
Nic Coombey from Solway Firth Partnership said “When cleaning a beach many questions spring to mind – what is that thing? – where did it come from? – why did it end up in the sea? – when did it get washed up? Seeking answers to these questions and searching for curiosities adds an extra dimension to the task of beach cleaning.”
Project Gather will feature local beach cleaners and their collections to generate interest in the global issue of marine debris and create opportunities to consider our relationship with plastic waste and the ocean. From smartie lids to toy soldiers, anglers’ lures to plastic ducks, the project will explore the collectors’ habits, the thrill of the hunt and the desire to gather objects because they are useful, beautiful or just weird and wonderful.