Join an organised event

Here's how to get involved in one of our Beachwatch beach cleans. Register for your chosen event, making sure you check the 'groups' box and give the number in your group. Arrange adult helpers. For health and safety reasons, we require the following minimum adult/pupil ratios: Under 7s, 1/6 7-11 years, 1/10 12-16 years, 1/15 Talk to your group about the event. Go through the survey form and explain how a beach clean works. Before you arrive at the beach, discuss with your students the safety details below and general organisation for the day. Use an interactive map to locate your local beach. Examine the map, identifying key features (compass points, land, ocean) to orientate children. Zoom in to examine features children may be familiar with, or that identify this particular beach (pier, esplanade, amusements, etc). This is a good opportunity to emphasise safety aspects. Organise pupils into groups of four to five. Under 7s will need at least one adult per group. For younger children it may be easier for an adult to fill in the form, with pupils helping to collect the litter. Download your free copy of Teach on the Beach. It's packed with games, activities and advice for a fun-filled, educational day at the beach with your class or group.

Organise your own beach clean

If you'd like to arrange your own event, register as an organiser and lead a beach clean for your group. We have all the resources you need to help you get set up. You could even adopt a beach to survey four times a year.

4 school children looking at the camera wearing hi-vis jackets and gloves on. The girl on the far left is holding a litter picker and the boy that is centre right is holding a clipboard. They are on a beach

Beach cleans for schools and groups

Beach cleaning empowers children to do their bit for nature. By learning how their actions impact on our oceans we hope the next generation will be inspired to take up the fight against marine litter.

Take your learning outside

Taking part in a beach clean and survey is a great opportunity to connect with the ocean and learn about our environment. Time spent at the coast is great for health and wellbeing too, and the data you collect, by being scientists for the day, is vital in our fight for healthy seas. Marine litter is a problem that we can all play a part in solving, and what better way to start than with a day at the beach?

of cleans in 2025 recorded plastic bottles

of litter on our beaches has made it there from land

How to get involved

Here's how to get involved in one of our Beachwatch beach cleans.

Register for your chosen event, making sure you check the 'groups' box and give the number in your group.
Arrange adult helpers. For health and safety reasons, we require the following minimum adult/pupil ratios:
- Under 7s, 1/6
- 7-11 years, 1/10
- 12-16 years, 1/15
Talk to your group about the event. Go through the survey form and explain how a beach clean works.
Before you arrive at the beach, discuss with your students the safety details below and general organisation for the day.
Use an interactive map to locate your local beach. Examine the map, identifying key features (compass points, land, ocean) to orientate children. Zoom in to examine features children may be familiar with, or that identify this particular beach (pier, esplanade, amusements, etc). This is a good opportunity to emphasise safety aspects.
Organise pupils into groups of four to five. Under 7s will need at least one adult per group. For younger children it may be easier for an adult to fill in the form, with pupils helping to collect the litter.
Download your free copy of Teach on the Beach. It's packed with games, activities and advice for a fun-filled, educational day at the beach with your class or group.

Please note, young people remain the responsibility of their class teacher or group leader at all times.

A woman with her back to the camera speaking to a group of beach cleaners all huddled in front of her on the beach. The woman is wearing a Marine Conservation Society vest.

Looking for a perfect time to get started?

Why not choose the Great British Beach Clean, our yearly flagship event held on the third week in September around the UK.

Find out more

On the day

Be sure to arrive in good time as there will be an important safety briefing given by the organiser. Young people should be encouraged to listen carefully and adult leaders should reiterate key points as necessary. Identify the survey area and make it clear to your group that they must not leave this area without permission. Please also reiterate the importance of surveying each piece of litter as the data is vital to helping clean up our oceans.

Groups should work their way across the survey area collecting every man-made litter item that it is safe to pick up. Each item should be recorded on the survey form. The aim is to remove every bit of litter over the 100m stretch of beach. This will then be collected and weighed. Adults should work with groups to help them identify and survey litter accurately. Survey forms and equipment should be handed in at the end.

A group of children are using litterpickers to put rubbish into a blue refuse bag. Only the children's legs and feet can be seen.

Children litter picking during Great British Beach Clean | Image credit: Kate Whitton

Dive deeper into the data

You don't need to live near the sea to get involved in beach cleans. Our learning packs for primary and secondary learners are designed to engage young people with the marine litter problem wherever they live.

Packed with curriculum-linked lesson plans and activity ideas, they help bring the journey of litter from source to sea to life in the classroom.

Beach clean resource pack for primary

Beach clean resource pack for secondary

4 school children standing in front of a classroom. There is a presentation named "Stop Ocean Pollution" on the whiteboard

Image credit: Anna Stringer

Other ways to engage your students

A white lighthouse standing on a rugged, grassy headland extending into the blue sea under a partly cloudy sky. The lighthouse is Trevose Head Lighthouse in Cornwall.

Primary learning

Teach your primary pupils about the ocean with resources linked to UK curricular and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Sue Burton stands next to a schoolchild in a classroom. She is showing them a vial of water. On the table in front of them are beakers of water and water quality checking equipment

Book a workshop

Our workshops are a great opportunity for young people to learn more about the UK's amazing seas and how to look after them

The back of 2 primary school girls' heads looking at a laptop screen on a table. The laptop screen shows a cartoon sea captain standing iinside a classroom.

Fundraise at your school or group

Your school or group could help turn the tide on our ocean, and have fun doing it!

Add impact to your inbox

Join the movement: get updates on the issues you care about.

We'll email you inspiring stories about the work we're doing to save and recover our oceans, and news about our urgent campaigns for positive change.