More than 100 people from local businesses near Brighton beach joined us for a beach clean yesterday to help keep our surroundings clean and tidy.
Anyone that lives or works in Brighton loves the summer; spending time at the beach, enjoying a cool drink by the sea or for those brave souls, a dip in the sea. But we also regularly see the impact that the increased numbers of visitors have on the seafront.
It’s not unusual to see discarded fast food packaging, plastic or glass bottles, and a wide range of other rubbish left on the beach long after people have headed home.
Which is why we organised our third annual charity beach clean this week, in partnership with The Ivy in the Lanes in Brighton.
Around 100 people from a range of different local Brighton businesses met at the beach near the Palace Pier to collect their gloves, litter-pickers and bin bags ready to clear rubbish from the beach and raise money for us.
Teams participating in the event donated either £60, for a team of 5, or £120, for a team of 10, to Rockinghorse which could help fund projects related to our Wellbeing Support campaign.
This campaign aims to fund a brand-new specialist children’s healthcare Wellbeing Support Service based at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton. This service will make a range of wellbeing activities such as sea swimming courses, art therapy, yoga sessions, and much more, available to children and families being treated at the hospital.
And as an extra incentive, the team that collected the most rubbish within their allotted hour won a £150 voucher to treat their team to a meal at the Ivy!
Amanda Hetherington, Corporate Engagement Management for Rockinghorse, said: “We love working so close to the seafront in Brighton, as do so many others, and it’s common for people from local offices head down there for lunch, especially during the summer months. But unfortunately, if there’s loads of rubbish and mess around, it just not quite as nice.
“Thousands of visitors come to Brighton every year so there will inevitably be some mess left behind but it’s great that so many local businesses want to come along and help to keep our surroundings as beautiful as possible.”
And it certainly was a beautiful day for everyone to pick up their gloves, litter pickers and bin bags and get collecting.
The team from Experience Education, including Dee Wilson, right.
Dee Wilson, People Business Partner, came a long with a team from Experience Education to take part in the beach clean. She said, “We’re a Brighton based business and we took a staff vote to choose a local charity to support. As we work with children, Rockinghorse seemed like a great place to support.”
“We came down today because if you can do something for your mental health and something for charity at the same time, that’s perfect!”
Another team came from Fizzbox, an online marketplace to help people plan events and experiences. Their Director, Steph Hague-Evans, said, “We’re here today as the beach needs cleaning. We want to help our environment and as we are local, we want to look after our city.
“We always try to support Rockinghorse as one of our charity partners and it’s a beautiful charity to support.”
There was fierce competition amongst the teams to pick the most litter with groups from Avalere Health, Thales, Rix and Kay, Fizzbox, David Lloyd Brighton, Carpenter Farraday, Search Seven, Servo Wealth with TCC Sussex, The Grand Hotel, Experience Education, Acumen, and At Home Estate and Letting Agency taking up the challenge.
Each team had a one-hour slot to collect their rubbish and return to have it weighed to find out who had collected the most. Thanks to everyone who took part, we collected two massive containers of rubbish from the beach surrounding the Palace Pier and raised an amazing £1,200.
The team from Experience Education, a specialist school trip travel company, ended up as the winners, picking up the most amount of litter and winning the top prize.
Thanks so much to everyone who took part in this great event.
Keep an eye out for more chances to get your business involved in a fun activity to help fundraise for us.
