Students and local residents came together last weekend (1 December) to clean up the streets of Falmouth.

Falmouth Civic Society, The Students’ Union’s Beach Clean Project, Plastic-Free Falmouth, and Student Community Wardens combined efforts, tidying residential areas of Falmouth as well as local beaches.

Around 45 volunteers, including families with children (and dogs), litter-picked their way from Falmouth Moor to Falmouth Campus, before moving on to Gyllyngvase and Swanpool beaches. 26.7kg of waste was collected, including cigarette butts, metal waste, glass and micro-plastics.

Emily Gilford, President of The Beach Clean Project: “All of the local people that came along were really excited and keen to get involved again, and lots of people who weren’t on the clean took time to thank us for what we were doing, which was really lovely too.”

Gwen Scolding, SU Community Coordinator: “It was great to have so many students and local residents working together to clean up the streets and the beach. The enthusiasm for this collaborative event is really inspiring and shows how working together can really make a big difference to our local environment.”

Over the last three months, the student volunteers have registered 6,876 hours of volunteering. During February, The SU plans to celebrate the voluntary work of its members as part of the National Student Volunteering Week campaign and invites external organisations to promote their voluntary opportunities to the student body.

If you’d like to help transform your local area, litter pickers and other equipment can be rented out free of charge from the Falmouth Council office on the Moor. Email TessaMarie@falmouthtowncouncil.com for further information.

For further information, contact: Gwen Scolding, SU Community Coordinator. Email gwen.scolding@thesu.org.uk or call 01326 370447