Have you seen a man on the beach?

The recent good weather has seen people flock to beaches all around the West Country, and with any luck there are a fair few beach-friendly days left in store for us in 2012.

Beaches are such an intrinsic part of a British holiday that you've probably never asked yourself the question: What does the beach mean to you?

We know a man (who remains anonymous) who asks people he meets on beaches throughout Cornwall exactly that. The simple but engaging premise has resulted in a website packed with enjoyable 60-90 second videos of people answering his question, as well as lovely films of the beach itself. 

In his own words, Man On A Beach:

"...celebrates the elemental power of the beach and its profound effect on those people who enjoy being where the air, land and sea meet. The beach means different things to different people, whether it’s enhancing creativity, decisiveness and energy, being restorative and settling, part of a routine, a reference point through generations, freedom or just fun."

Take a look at an example video below:

Man On A Beach also provides his own charming narrative in some videos, such as this one filmed at Pendower:

His website is well worth a look - find out what people have said about your favourite beach or perhaps about one you haven't been to yet.

If you love beaches anywhere near as much as the Man On A Beach, it's worth noting that the MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend, the biggest beachclean and survey event in the UK, runs from 14th to 17th September.

To get involved, take a look at this list of Beachwatch events and make a positive difference to a beach near you. 

Here's a final video of a beach clean enthusiast to inspire you!

 

 

So, what does the beach mean to you? We'd love to hear your comments.

Adopt a turtle with MCS...

Looking for a great Christmas gift idea for someone special?



Young green turtle, taken by Dr. Peter Richardson, MCS

The MCS Adopt a Turtle scheme enables you to celebrate Christmas whilst supporting one of the oldest species in the world.

You can choose from seven species including Leatherback, Hawksbill and Loggerhead turtles, for just £3 per month. The scheme includes:

• An adorable fluffy version of your chosen turtle
• Talk Turtle - the MCS newsletter on its turtle conservation work - delivered twice a year
• A fact sheet and pictures of your chosen turtle species in the wild
• A personalised Certificate of Adoption

The HH team adopted its own turtle - we called him Bod - earlier this year.

Alternatively, you could give someone an MCS Membership - with great opportunities to get involved in rewarding activities, plus updates about the charity's conservation work, programmes and campaigns.

You can follow MCS on Facebook and Twitter too.

MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend…

In just a couple of days, the next MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend will be here!

Now in its 18th year, MCS Beachwatch is a coastal environmental initiative, involving thousands of volunteers who passionately care about their local coastline. The event  takes place every year, making it the most influential fight against marine litter in the UK.

The initiative is the only national volunteer beach clean-up and survey in the UK. Over the weekend of 18th and 19th of September 2010, 376 beaches were cleaned by 4,927 people who went to their local beach to make a big difference.

The Beachwatch events give MCS a better picture of just what washes up on our shores and when - plastic still makes up the majority. Plastics pose a great threat to marine wildlife because they can take thousands of years to fully break down.

The data collected is used for the annual MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend report – you can read the 2010 report here.

There are events all over the UK - find a Beachwatch beach in your area.

If you’d like to register for this event or take part in surveys throughout the year, please register now to take part.

MCS is our charity for 2011 and you can find a link to their Good Beach Guide on the property details page of each of our holiday cottages to see beaches within 20 miles.

Helpful fund raising for the Marine Conservation Society

As we mentioned earlier on this blog, Helpful Holidays has chosen the Marine Conservation Society as its charity for 2011. As part of this initiative we’re delighted to be working with Catherine Forshall, a gifted and highly regarded painter, to raise funds for the important work of MCS.

Catherine has been invited to produce five signed, limited edition prints to be sold on an exclusive basis by the Marine Conservation Society. The prints can be viewed, together with several of Catherine’s original paintings, at the Monks Withecombe Gallery, one mile outside Chagford, and purchased from Catherine's website.

Catherine is donating 50% of the value of her print sales to the Marine Conservation Society, and says, “I have always felt that the sea is part of me. I think of the sea as this huge benign nurturing force, a source of food and energy, refreshing and invigorating. I don't want it to be poisoned for our children. That’s why I support the Marine Conservation Society. I think the work they do, raising public awareness, getting parts of our sea around Britain fully protected, improving the cleanliness of our beaches, and supporting sustainable fishing policies- is fantastic.”  

You can make a donation to MCS when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays. All funds raised will go towards the protection of our glorious and vulnerable coastline and the preservation of the marine environment.

Marine conservation - how you can help...

From clearing up beach litter and cooking up sustainable fish recipes to nominating a coastal area for protection, part two of our interview with the Marine Conservation Society looks at the different ways to help out.

Helpful Holidays knows how important the UK's beaches and marine habitats are to holidaymakers and residents alike so we have made MCS our chosen charity for 2011.

MCS is currently campaigning for Marine Protected Areas off the UK coasts, including 12 sites in the South West such as St Mawes and Babbacombe Bay. It has created a website, YourSeasYourVoice.com, where you can add your vote of support for the recommended sites and help safeguard the future of a top holiday spot or recommend a marine area that you think needs extra protection. If you’ve seen activities like trawling and dredging off the coast, this campaign is a way to lobby for these activities to be restricted, enabling the sea bed and fish stocks to recover.

MCS said: "It's very important that the public get on board. If people staying at cottages through Helpful Holidays have a marine area they love and want to put it forward for protection, they can have their voice heard on our website. We also encourage the public to take part in our wildlife surveys too. Have fun spotting turtles, jellyfish and basking sharks while you're on holiday! MCS uses the data to build up a picture of marine wildlife activity around UK coasts."

Channel 4's The Big Fish Fight series has raised issues at the heart of MCS's operations. The charity said: "A high profile series on Channel 4 and the involvement of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in particular in taking this Fish Fight to the masses, helps our cause no end.

"We've been campaigning against the practice of discarding – throwing perfectly good fish back in the sea dead – for a number of years. Hugh is very passionate about what he’s discovered and that helps what we are trying to do enormously. Alongside our downloadable, at-a-glance sustainable seafood guide, people have taken heed of the TV shows and we know that sales of fish often discarded have gone up in supermarkets, which is great news."

To keep up the good work, the charity suggests we all try something new at the fish counter; by opting for less popular fish like coley, pollock and whiting, we can relieve the pressure on falling fish stocks like cod, tuna and salmon.

Another easy way to help – avoid using plastic bags, pick up litter you see and take your own litter home with you. We all know litter gets dropped and looks unsightly but do we realise the fatal consequences it can have for our wildlife?

MCS said: "Litter has become a massive problem. Our Beachwatch event has taken place every year for 16 years, with up to 6,000 volunteers every year going out onto beaches, clearing litter and recording data. In that time, we have seen a 121% increase in the amount of plastic rubbish we’ve found. That's really all down to our increased use of plastics and the fact we are an increasingly throw-away society. Small changes can make a big difference."

Funds from Helpful Holidays will go towards key projects. You can make a donation to MCS when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays. You can also donate direct to MCS, become a member and help spread the word about the good work of this charity by following them on Twitter or by liking the MCS page on Facebook.
.

Helpful Holidays supports the Marine Conservation Society...

Sandcastles, a dip in the sea and ice cream on the shore are exactly what the British beach visit is about, so Helpful Holidays has chosen to help protect the UK coastline by supporting the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) throughout 2011. We recently caught up with our friends at MCS to learn more about their history and current campaigns.

MCS is the UK charity that cares for our seas, shores and wildlife. By raising awareness and funds, MCS is able to help tackle important issues like marine protection, sustainable fisheries and ensuring our beaches and seawater become cleaner.

High profile support has always been important to the charity, with HRH The Prince of Wales taking on the role of President in 1978, when the charity was just a year old and called the Underwater Conservation Society. MCS said: "We started life, miles from the sea, in a garden shed in Ross-on-Wye belonging to founder member, Dr Bob Earll. The important thing then, as now, was the people supporting it."

Diver Magazine’s Bernard Eaton and project officers Dr Charles Sheppard and Dr Bob Earll had a real passion for the coast, as did Professor David Bellamy, a keen diver, environmental campaigner and botanist, who lent his support to the team.

Since changing its name to the Marine Conservation Society in 1983, the charity has grown steadily. Now, it is the go-to organisation for information on clean beaches, sustainable fishing and marine life protection. What started as the Golden List of Beaches is now the Good Beach Guide: an online Bible for beach goers who want to ensure the seas they visit are clean and safe to bathe in.

Last year, the website was revamped, reflecting its popularity as a reference point for tourists; it gets up to 100,000 hits a month in peak holiday season. Holidaymakers are spoilt in the South West with 126 MCS recommended beaches to choose from.

The charity depends entirely on the generosity and enthusiasm of supporters. We were delighted to be able to recently donate £10,000 from our charitable fund to go towards key projects, including the Good Beach Guide and Beachwatch. You can make a donation to MCS when you book a holiday through Helpful Holidays.


You can also donate direct to MCS, become a member and help spread the word about the good work of this charity by following them on Twitter or by liking MCS on Facebook.

Look out later this week for a second post outlining some of MCS's current campaigns and how you can get involved.

Helpful Holidays donates over £60,000 to charity...

We're delighted to announce that we are to donate more than £60,000 to a range of leading charities operating in and around the West Country.

The first four charities to benefit are the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, the Marine Conservation Society, Farms for City Children and the RNLI. Many other regional and national charities will also receive donations throughout the year. ShelterBox, the Cornish based charity famous for its delivery of aid boxes, has already received a donation of £1,000 for its Haiti appeal.

We raised the funds from the VAT saved during the recent ‘VAT holiday’. Rather than taking extra profit or discounting our already published prices, we donated the 2.5 % VAT cut to our charitable fund. Helpful Holidays General Manager, Moray Bowater, said, “The VAT reduction made such a small difference to the cost of an individual holiday but we book over 17,000 holiday cottage breaks each year so we knew those small amounts would soon add up. It seemed a golden opportunity to raise some cash for the charities being hit hard by the recession.”

Each year, Helpful Holidays adopts a charity and invites its holidaymakers to make donations when booking their holidays - this year it is the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. At the end of the year, we match the sum generated by our holidaymakers. In 2009, over £2,600 was donated to the RNLI.