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- Clean Up Bristol Harbour was founded in September 2016 by Chloe Juyon, who was spurred to act after seeing rubbish floating around her boat while coxing on the River Avon at high tide.
- Clean Up Bristol Harbour logged more than 880kg (1,940lb) of waste removed and 236 volunteers between 2021 and 2023, with almost 390kg (859lbs) sent for recycling.
- Chloe Juyon said volunteers have fished out unusual items including an inflatable doll, a Nintendo Switch, a message in a bottle with a note in Spanish, a kettle, a packet of butcher's tripe mix, and a Marathon-branded chocolate wrapper — the UK's pre-1990 name for Snickers.
- All Aboard Watersports, which now runs the project, has launched a Crowdfunder aiming to raise an initial £5,000 as the group's existing funding comes to an end.
- Charley Peak-Payne of All Aboard Watersports said the harbour water is now clean enough to host swimming events, calling that "something that due to pollution would never have happened 10 years ago."
- The group will hold a community clean-up on World Cleanup Day, with a self-guided litter pick open to the public from 10:00 to 12:00 BST.
Why it matters: The project's continuation hinges on a modest £5,000 crowdfunding push — if it falls short, a decade of measurable harbour cleanup and the recent water-quality gains enabling open-water swimming events could stall, with downstream effects on the watersports and boating community that relies on a cleaner Bristol Harbour.
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