In 2020 we launched our Coastal Fountain Fund which enables UK based organisations to install fountains in busy and / or environmentally important coastal locations. Since then we have provided funding for 13 fountains in very different locations.
The fund aims to tackle the increasing problem of plastic bottles, left behind along the coast as marine litter, which damage the marine environment and the species that call it home. It is anticipated that the provision of the water refill stations will significantly reduce the numbers of non-reusable plastic drinks bottles on our beaches.
After some delay in installation in 2020 due to Covid, our fountains are now being installed and we thought we would posts a few pics of the fountains installed so far.
From Top to bottom and left to right these are: Baggy Point Carpark in Croyde, Camber Sands, Ballygally Beach, Blackhead Coastal Path and Bexhill.
In 2020 (the pilot year for the Fund) we supported projects across 4 locations in the UK including Camber Sands in East Sussex and Portstewart Strand in County Londonderry.
In 2021 the grant awards have been given to a range of organisations from Wildlife Trusts, District, Borough and Community Councils and the National Trust. The locations include:
Blackhead Path in Whitehead near Belfast
Ballygally Beach in Northern Ireland
Fife’s Coastal Path in Scotland
Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve in Lincolnshire
Scarborough Beach in North Yorkshire
East Cost of Alderney in the Channel Islands
Croyde beach in North Devon
Milford on Sea Beach in the New Forest
Worthing Promenade in West Sussex
The fund is being sponsored by the specialist international distribution and services group, Bunzl plc, who are supporting this work as part of their response to the plastic challenge.