Since July 2020 Turn The Tide Portishead have mentored students at Gordano School who are working towards silver, bronze and gold awards in the Environmental section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
Their volunteering can be in the fields of Urban and Rural Conservation, Beach and Coastline Conservation and Litter Picking which leads nicely into the aims and goals of TTTP.
To date we have enrolled and signed off on the assessments of 1 Gold, 2 silver and 40 Bronze awards enabling these students to gain their medals.
In order to gain their medals, they have to report back to us with details of their litter pick or beach clean locations, the amount of time spent and the amount of rubbish they collect.
Since we started this scheme, the students have spent 675 hours collecting 325 bin bags of litter from 62 local open spaces and beaches, of which Portishead has seven.
We are really appreciative of these young people who are joining with us to improve our local environment and who are at the same time gaining valuable knowledge about the damage single use plastics can do to our waterways and wildlife.
Bins and boards update
Penny has met with North Somerset Council and we are glad to say that we’re getting closer to a smattering of new bins and boards going up around the town. The sailing club Beach Clean Board is to go ahead imminently and a board in the marina is agreed in principal PRINCIPLE with a view to installing some recycling bins also. The Royal is going through some changes so we are investigating installing a Beach Clean Board further down in the seating area on Woodhill Road. Lastly, the Lake Grounds should also have a new board going up near the park soon.
If you would like to volunteer to be a guardian of any of these boards, making sure they’re kept stocked up on litter pickers and bags, then please email penny on chair@turnthetideportishead.co.uk
Slade Road Clean
North Somerset Council AND PORTISHEAD TC. would like to express their sincere thanks for a sterling effort from all the volunteers who helped clean the Slade Road woodland area.
Business Big Clean
This initiative is off to a great start with Viper already out in force carrying out regular picks and TG Woodware, Earthfare, and The Poacher also showing real interest. Whilst the plan is to get established before we approach anyone further if you know of any other businesses that may like to know more about litter picking their immediate area then please pass on their details by replying to this email or contacting Penny on chair@turnthetideportishead.co.uk and we will add them to the list.
Spruce up the Severn
We will be holding a community litter pick on Sunday 25th September at 10:30am meeting at The Lido to show our support of the Spruce in the Severn initiative. This is also a great opportunity for new and familiar faces to meet – it would be great to have a good turn out from Turn The Tide volunteers. If you do plan to come please wear your Hi-vis to help raise the TTTP profile.
AGM
It’s that time of year again already. The plan is to meet at The Ship (upstairs) on the 4th October at 7:30am for a quick committee summary and then a good knees-up-catch-up.
This is a good opportunity to say a massive thanks to Chris Duffy who has been a rock-solid Secretary for the past two years. Chris is stepping down from the committee role which opens a space to fill. Likewise, all the roles are open to being voted in so if you would like to know more about being on the committee, please reply to this email or contact Penny on chair@turnthetideportishead.co.uk.
The roles available stand as, Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications plus two other committee members.
Expect cake!!
Portishead Town Council Volunteers Fair
PTC are holding a fair for all the town’s volunteer groups and we have been offered a table and display for the day but we need help manning it. If you can spare an hour or two on Thursday 13th October, any time between 10am and 5pm, then please get in touch by replying to this email or contact Penny on chair@turnthetideportishead.co.uk.
BIG GREEN WEEK
This runs 24th September to 2nd October. Portishead Library are running events all week, and Friday 30th we will have a display table there. It does not have to be manned all the time but if anyone can spare an hour or half that would be great. On same day there will be reps from council waste and recycling teams, as well as Bristol Water and Severnside Energy group.
Have Your Say!
If you have some feedback, a story or project, or even just something nice you'd like to share with the Turn The Tide volunteers, click the button below and we'll add it to the next newsletter or agenda.
Portishead Big Clean / Spruce up the Severn 24-25th September
October Big Green Week (TTTP Display in the library) 24th September - 2nd October (with NS Waste in attendance on 30th September)
Turn The Tide AGM 4th October, The Ship, 7:30pm
Next committee meeting Tuesday 18th October - The Ship
We are a group of volunteers dedicated to reducing the pollution of Portishead’s beautiful beaches and streets
through regular litter picks and educational projects to reduce single use plastic. If you would like to know more about volunteering, please get in touch.
