Hi, my name is Mark and I’ve lived in Selsey for the past 16 years. I’m asking for your help to raise funds for a very special, volunteer, community group called the Selsey Beach Litter Ninjas.

This group of wonderful people are all unpaid volunteers. Everyday they walk around Selsey picking up litter and anything else that’s found its way onto our beaches and communal spaces, keeping them clean and safe for all of us to use. They often go unnoticed, they don’t ask for thanks and they do an amazing job. They are primarily self funded and generously give their time up to help keep Selsey clean.

As I’m sure you’re aware, Selsey has been in the headlines recently because a number of shipping containers carrying bananas and other fruits came ashore, after falling from a ship on its way to port. These containers broke up and spilled their contents into the sea and onto the beaches of Selsey.

Without hesitation, the Selsey Beach Litter Ninjas jumped into action, collecting a massive amount of plastic crates, polyurethane insulation, plastic packaging and even parts of the containers, including large pieces of jagged metal, which otherwise would have been lost to the sea.

Working very long hours from first light and in very difficult weather conditions, they just got on with it.

They didn’t wait for someone else to do it, they didn’t wait to be asked to do it and they certainly didn’t wait for the ‘ok’ from the council, they just did it!

If it wasn’t for the immediate intervention of this amazing group of people, there would be tons and tons of plastic and foam waste floating around in our seas.

I’ve heard lots of people saying thank you to them on Facebook and other platforms, and now’s the time to show you mean it, by donating what you can.

Any money raised will go directly to them for buying equipment and supplies so they can continue their great work.

What would be ideal is to raise enough money to buy or rent a storage facility in Selsey, ideally something like a single garage.

This could then be used to buy and store supplies to help with future emergencies, also wheelbarrows, carts or barrows, to help transport the large and heavy litter sacks to the recycling points.

I have set the fundraiser target at £10,924. This is the population of Selsey according to the latest census, that’s just £1 per person!

If you like having a clean, safe place to live and value what these amazing people do, please give what you can. Remember, these volunteers are collecting litter everyday, not just when there’s an emergency.

I realise money is tight for a lot of people at the moment, but if you can dig deep and find some spare cash, we can really show how much we appreciate these wonderful volunteers.

If you can’t use, or don’t have access to a computer, please ask a friend to do it for you or contact me and I’ll happily help you to donate.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for donating.

Mark.

P.S. A massive thank you to ALL the volunteers that helped with the recent beach clean up!