Beach Buddies goes north this weekend and will be tackling a stretch of beach north of Cranstal, close to the Point of Ayre.

The meeting point will be sign-posted on the road leading to the lighthouse for a 10.30am start on Sunday morning.

This is a section of beach which was cleared of rubbish some weeks ago by our volunteers and the beach is is excellent condition up to the point where our previous session ended.

However, beyond that point there are massive of amounts of plastic and typical marine litter such as tin cans, fishing gear, ropes and considerable amounts of polystyrene. We can also expect to find discarded commercial 25 litre barrels with used oil, as on pretty much all previous visits.

Beach Buddies provides all the necessary equipment, and disposes of the materials collected afterwards and the nearby Northern Civic Amenity Site where many of the items are recycled.

New volunteers have been a regular feature of our sessions this year, and in recent months we have seen a large number of new faces, of all ages. If you have never been before, come along and join in. It's informal, there's no need to register - just turn up and wear suitable clothing for the weather and decent walking shoes or boots.

Sessions last no more than 90 minutes and Sunday's event will conclude not later than 12 noon. Volunteers can stay for a little or as long as they wish.