B is for Beginning the Race for Reading

B is for bothering to do something

B is for borrowing a bucket

B is for beach cleaning

B is for #BigBagChallenge

B is for beginning – which is the hardest part.

It’s great when things come together. I have a passion to promote literacy, a resolve to rid the coast of plastic pollution and a need to keep fit.

Day 2 – I love walking along beaches more than anything but litter picking can be challenging on a number of different levels. It takes time. I spent nearly two hours on the coast and, according to my Fit-bit, covered only 5km = 3.1 miles. Once home, I had to sort the rubbish and recycle the broken glass.

C is for caring

C is for constant cleaning

C is for change – change a child’s life chances

Day 3 -Another two hours clearing the foreshore and mudflats when I only covered 3.71km = 2.3 miles, but removed items that will never rot. Here’s a selection:

D is for Day 4

D is for Diligence

D is for Determination

90 mins spent covering 1.8 miles collecting 162 pieces of litter and plastic pollution including 6 bags full of dog poo, despite the provision of a council bin.

E is for Environment

E is for Everyone

E is for Energy

Day 5 – 90 minutes covering 2 miles along the coast and associated lanes.

F is for Fitness

F is for Friends

F is for Fishing debris

Day 6- 60 minutes in the fresh air covering half a mile through fields returning with baller-twine, a discard PVC dustbin and a broken wheelbarrow.

G is for Get

G is for going

G is for Great British Spring Clean with Keep Britain Tidy 25th March – 10th April

Day 7 – 90 minutes collecting 130 items of glass and plastic covering 3.75km = 2.3miles

Gillian, who accompanied me on one of my beach cleaning forays has written to say: ‘I found it surprisingly enjoyable and absorbing.’ She was once a volunteer school reader.

Would you sponsor me to continue to collect litter as I continue to walk along the coast for Race for Reading 2022? So far, I have only covered 12.2 miles but I have collected about 1,000 small pieces of rubbish, recycling the glass.

I’ve registered in my full name so Gift Aid can be added on my My JustGiving page. My company will match money given in sponsorship, so your donation will effectively be doubled.

Funds raised will go straight to Schoolreaders – a fantastic charity that supplies volunteers to listen to children read in school and whip up excitement about books and storytelling. A gift of £30 will fund the placement of a volunteer in a needy school for a year.

Read about the progress of the Race for Reading here