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An innovative educational project that will engage up to 1,550 children in Folkestone to learn more about their marine environment, conservation, recycling and the Circular Economy.
Local children will collect, sort and recycle ocean plastics during healthy activities like kayaking, sea swimming and stand up paddle boarding at The Sea Sports Centre, located at Sunny Sands in Folkestone. During these enrichment activities Big Blue Foundation Volunteers will teach the children about the Circular Economy how we can all 'close the loop' on waste plastic. We also aim to to mitigate so-called 'eco-anxiety' that children are reportedly suffering from by showing them how they can each make a positive difference to the world by taking steps to improve their environment. The children will be shown how to recycle the plastics they collect to make new recyclable products. They will be able to enjoy a fleet of new kayaks, made from 100% ocean plastics, that the project will donate to the Sea Sports Centre for the children to use whilst on the water collecting waste plastic.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
Folkestone Sea Sports Centre hosts approximately 1,550 children per annum. Our project will enhance the overall enrichment experience that those children have by adding a conservation education experience. Our water and land-based conservation activities will help to alleviate eco-anxiety in children by empowering them to take positive action that benefits the environment whilst improving their physical and mental well-being. Suitably trained Volunteers will gain valuable experience working with children, learn about working in the field of conservation and develop skills that they will use in their future careers. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to put themselves forward to deliver future Big Blue Foundation and Sports Trust activities. Our organisation will benefit from collaborating with a renowned local charity and by working with social enterprises and businesses that are enabling us to investigate new sustainable income streams to support our activities.
Steps to get it done:
The Sports Trust, the charity that operates the Folkestone Sea Sports Centre, is represented on our Board and there is a clear synergy between the two charities, with an aspiration to improve education and knowledge about conservation and our environment in the children and young people of Folkestone. Our Scientific Director Melissa Scheile is an ocean plastics and marine conservation specialist. She is developing educational conservation activities to be delivered in schools and is perfectly placed to help design engaging and impactful conservation projects. We also collaborate with social enterprise Waterhaul.co based in Cornwall. They manufacture 100% recyclable reading glasses and sunglasses from marine plastics. We can send them some of the plastics that the children collect locally during this project to be incorporated into their products, providing another way to demonstrate 'closing the loop' on waste plastics to the children .
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Journey
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Big Blue Rising Star Eleanor is into her second week in Porto studying at the amazing VIVA Lab. Here she is stripping down and re-building one of the recycling machines that our Conservation Champions will be using to clean up the water and beaches around Folkestone next year. Pledge now to local children clean up our environment and use their creativity!
How will the money be spent?Total £19,538
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Total £19,538
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VolunteerBig Blue Foundation merges cutting-edge science with traditional knowledge to empower global communities to safeguard their oceans.
We believe that the seas and oceans of our fragile planet are the vital cornerstone to support the survival and prosperity of all life. Marine ecosystems are under threat and need to be better understood, protected and their role in a healthy planet evaluated.
Oceans produce half of the oxygen we breathe and absorb more CO2 than our atmosphere. They provide food security for almost half the planet’s population, enable global transport and world trade and are a source of employment for millions of people.
Our work at Big Blue Foundation is to bring together communities, business and groundbreaking new science to work on these issues in highly focused projects with clear objectives and measurable outcomes we can all be proud of.
From understanding the vital role that cetaceans play in mitigating climate change, to empowering the next generation of conservation champions to create innovative solutions to the issue of ocean plastics.
By fostering a deeper connection between people and the ocean, we can drive collective actionand positive change in our partner communities to create healthier oceans for all of us.
Project Owner: Big Blue Foundation The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
