Canal litter clean up – a magnificent effort

TJ Boardhire hosts Surfers Against Sewage clean-up on Chichester Canal

As part of Surfers Against Sewage’s clean-up weekend, Tony and Gemma of TJ Boardhire and Chichester SUP Club, organised a litter pick on Chichester Canal on 13^th April. No ordinary litter pick along the bank, 15 or so courageous souls braved the cold but sunny morning, glided along the water on their paddle-boards and kayaks, and fished rubbish straight out of Chichester Canal’s water. And they were joined by a number of others with bags collecting litter along the towpath.

Leaving Hunston at 10am it was a leisurely paddle, with everyone collecting a few bits of litter along the Canal and placing it in bags precariously balanced on their boards, arriving at the Basin around 11.15am.

Stopping to refuel and warm up over a hot drink and slice of cake in the Canal Cafe, most of the talk was about just how little litter there was on Chichester Canal. Considering the close proximity of major roads and City centre everyone expected there to be more rubbish to collect.

Well, we think the lack of litter is a reflection on the wonderful users of Chichester Canal.  We often see those visiting us picking up rubbish and helping to keep the Canal looking clean and tidy. Chichester SUP Club, who use Chichester Canal as one of their main bases, encourage their paddle-board students to pick up any debris at the end of their lessons, or to collect it as and when they see it whilst they are on their paddle-boards. Andrew Gibson, Trading Board Director at the Canal, commented “It was wonderful to see the Canal buzzing with activity with boat trips, paddleboarders and kayaks. Congratulations to TJ Boardhire for their magnificent clean-up effort and to those who joined them to help out”.

All of that helped make the Chichester Canal clean-up a huge success. There may not have been a huge amount of litter to pick up but now, for the moment at least, there is virtually none.

Thank you to all of those who participated, seeing everyone help clean the Canal was an uplifting sight. As you know, every bit helps.

And the wildlife is forever grateful.

Authored by David Stares (volunteer)

Phtographs by TJ Boardhire and Victoria Moore (volunteer)

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