Bristol Harbour Cleanup Marks 10 Years, Faces Funding Cliff — SkimNews
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- Clean Up Bristol Harbour marks 10 years since its September 2016 launch, with founder Chloe Juyon noting volunteers still find unexpected objects — including a Nintendo Switch, an inflatable doll, and a message in a bottle with a Spanish-language note.
- Recorded monitoring between 2021 and 2023 showed 236 volunteers removed more than 880kg (1,940lb) of waste from Bristol Harbour, with nearly 390kg sent for recycling.
- All Aboard Watersports, which now runs the project after Juyon stepped away several years ago, has launched a Crowdfunder seeking an initial £5,000 as the group's current funding comes to an end.
- Charley Peak-Payne of All Aboard Watersports said the harbour is now clean enough to host swimming events, calling the improvement in water quality 'something that due to pollution would never have happened 10 years ago.'
- Among the more unusual finds catalogued by volunteers over the years are Nespresso capsules, a packet of butcher's tripe mix, thermals still in packaging, and a Marathon-branded chocolate wrapper — the UK name for Snickers before 1990.
- A self-guided community litter pick is planned for World Cleanup Day, with members of the public invited to take part on foot or by their own craft from 10:00 to 12:00 BST.
Why it matters: The funding cliff poses a direct risk to a proven volunteer model that has removed nearly 900kg of waste in two years and helped clean a harbour enough to host swimming events — a tangible ecological and recreational gain that could stall without new support.
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