In July, an online celebration event was held by MCS. It included short presentations from some of the key people from MCS and it was good to put faces to names.

The updates were mainly on the subject of beach cleaning and some of the findings from different parts of the country.

Here is a brief summary from MCS data:

• Overall, there has been a 15% decrease in litter found on UK beach cleans since 2014
• Single use plastic still represents 87% of litter.
• Overseas litter (from Canada and USA mainly) includes fish tags
• Food packaging is heavily represented in litter found in Europe and Ireland

Interesting items of litter found around the country included:

• A lobster tag from Antigua
• Brodick beach on the Isle of Arran produced a sign for the Giants Causeway.
• Retro finds in Merseyside included packaging at least 15 years old and a crisp packet which was thought to be at least 30 years old.

For anyone interested, more information is available through the beach clean survey reports on the Marine Conservation Society Website.

I look forward to seeing some of you at our next beach clean on September 27th 2026. This event will be part of the Great British Beach Clean, bringing together data from around the country…

Kathy McAdam.
Beach clean organiser. Lancashire MCS group