Friends of Burnham beach

We started our activities in 2016. There was an ongoing problem with large amounts of litter accumulating along the estuary section of Burnham Beach and nobody was seemingly doing anything about it. In conjunction with Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset , a handful of concerned residents got together to try to tackle the problem. We enlisted support from the local council, Sedgemoor at the time, who helped with risk assessment, equipment and collection of filled bags.

In the early days we were needing to clear litter about once a month throughout the year but the regularity has dropped over time to about 8 events a year now. The problem is not as bad as it was thankfully but it still requires vigilance.

We were able to attract a high number of volunteers, assisted by some harrowing television programmes, to the point that we had as many as 50 people wanting to pick up litter on one occasion. We needed to get better organised and formed a committee and sought further financial support to increase our stock of litter picking equipment.

We ended our rather nomadic existence by being allowed to use the local sailing club’s facilities and call it our “home”. They agreed to store our equipment and let us use their clubhouse for our own events, and, in particular, for refreshments after litter picking.

As well as the litter picking on the estuary and beach areas, we have branched out to cover other areas of need. We often have “hit squad “ activities where we target especially bad litter problems away from the sea front. Very often this will be areas close to fast food outlets and along the main roads leading from the town. We have not been able to open these events to the public due to difficulty in getting insurance cover.

We were delighted to receive a civic award in 2025 for our contribution to the community.

The need for Friends of Burnham Beach to carry on its work is unlikely to diminish , and volunteers will continue to be needed. The group is determined to do what it can to free Burnham on Sea from the unsightly blight of litter.