Icom Support GoPladdle Project To Clean Up Dorset Beaches

Icom UK is supporting an environmental clean-up project called GoPladdle. Founded by Jake Sculthorp and Rosie Bailey, GoPladdle aims to clean up remote beaches around Dorset and raise global awareness of the positives of recycling. Icom UK is supplying the couple with IC-M25 buoyant VHF marine radios to help keep them both safe and in contact with support personnel throughout their vital work.

The couple spend a lot of time out walking along the Dorset Coast but were incredibly disheartened by the number of pieces of litter washing up on the beaches. It was out of one on their walks, peering over a cliff edge that they noticed a collection of rubbish tucked in a small bay with no access on foot. When they saw a family out kayaking they put two and two together. This was when the idea for GoPladdle started.

Since they started the project they have been involved with several initiatives, including:

Plastic Free Poole:Using the Surfers Against Sewage' plastic-free communities' initiative, they invited local businesses, schools and organisations to review the use of single-use plastics and to take steps to reduce them.

Lytchett Bay Project:The couple has been working with the local community of Lytchett Bay to raise awareness of the plastic problem and find ways to reduce the impact on the coast.

Lytchett Bay is a bottle neck for all of the litter washed into the ocean from neighbouring tourist beaches. It is also home to a small fishing community with insufficient storage for netting and boat building materials. Both of these issues pose a risk to local wildlife. A proposal has been put forward to erect a fisherman's hut, and regular cleans are conducted to ease the litter problem.

Big Harbour Clean Up:In May they hosted 'The Big Harbour Clean Up'. With dive teams, beach clean teams, kayakers, SUP's, schools, scouts and sea cadets they blitzed Poole harbour in a huge coordinated clean up.

Poole Harbour Boat Show 2019:This year, GoPladdle were invited by Poole Harbour Commissioners to partner with them and make the Poole Harbour Boat Show as plastic-free as possible, and to use the event to help raise awareness of ocean plastics. Their stand comprised of an instillation using findings from the Big Harbour Clean Up. It served as a great educational tool and also won them the 'PHC Best Boat Show Exhibitor Award'.

Micro-plastics survey:Over the coming year they will be performing a micro-plastics study of every outlet leading directly into the Poole harbour.

As kayaking has become more of a focal point in their lives together with the kind donation of their very own boat called Poly - Esther by Poole Harbour Commissioners and the loan of an electric Torqeedo outboard from Golden Arrow Marine, the couple felt they needed to be as safe as possible on the water. Rosie said, 'Icom is a name that has come up multiple times in the past from friends, family and other members of the boating community as being one of the best product names out there. We were so thrilled when Icom agreed to assist us with our mission to clean the world’s second-largest harbour.

She added, 'Safety is paramount when on the water. As the time spent on the water becomes more frequent, so does the risk. Thankfully we haven't yet had to use the radios in any emergency, but we find they are incredibly portable, easy to use and look cool too.'

If anyone wants to find out more about the work of GoPladdle, visit their Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages, plus the big harbour clean up website www.bigharbourcleanup.com/ containing their latest and up and coming projects. You can also contact the team via Facebook, or email pladdle@hotmail.com.

Everyone at Icom wishes Jake and Rosie and the GoPladdle project every success!

Icom UK Marketing - marketing@icomuk.co.uk