Hornsea Community Primary School held a special assembly on Monday 17th September to celebrate the new equipment they have received as part of the Plastic Free Hornsea campaign. Some of the funds from the Awards for All grant of £4,650 obtained with the help of the Smile Foundation and Let’s Go Hornsea has been spent on litter pickers and other beach cleaning equipment for the school.
In last month’s edition we reported on the raffle held by the Plastic Free Group, with help from the school children, which raised £500. This was divided between Surfers Against Sewage and HUG (Hornsea Urban Gardeners). Members from both organisations were present at the Assembly to receive the money. Steve Crawford, based in Scarborough, is the Regional Representative for Surfers against Sewage and he brought his surfboard along to help explain the work of the charity. He told of how the campaign to clear our beaches of plastics has exploded in recent years and of how many schools are now working to reduce plastics and litter. Steve stressed that any initiative, no matter how small, can make a difference and encouraged the children to continue with their good work. He also told us that here in Hornsea we have one of the best ‘Plastic Free’ schemes in the country.
June and Jan founders of HUG explained that HUG will be using their donations to pay for insurance and to buy safety gloves and tools for the volunteers. HUG volunteer Adam Raw was responsible for the Elf and Fairy houses that appeared for the summer fair. The previously untidy area of the school grounds continues to be developed by HUG as an area of interest for the children.
Mrs Simmonite, the School’s Community Officer, who has spearheaded its commitment to the Plastic Free initiative was also able to announce that she has been able to buy reusable water bottles for all the children and estimates that this should reduce the use of plastic water bottles by at least 10 bottles per day per class. This was made possible due to a £500 donation from Nippon Gohsei who are based at Saltend. Mrs Simmonite applied via the HEY Smile Foundation to their community grants scheme and were successful, enabling them to purchase the reusable water bottles. Helen Starkey, HR & Communications Manager said “Nippon Gohsei is passionate about helping projects which support their philosophy, to find sustainable conditions that provide comfort and healthy outcomes for society and the environment”.
Finally, Paul Parry announced that the next Community Beach Clean will take place on Sunday 28th October to coincide with an Open Day from 10am to 3pm at the new Beach Hut on the North Prom which the Plastic Free group will be renting out from October thanks to the Awards for All funding. As well as a base for the beach cleaners, the hut will be available for the schools and other groups to use for environmental initiatives.
