Napoli - public can help at last

I've neglected this blog for a few days, the better weather tempting me out into the garden where there is so much to do.

This past weekend has seen a new aspect of the Napoli saga unfold: at long last the general public have been able to get involved with the beach clean up. One benefit of the publicity that surrounded the beaching of MSC Napoli was the desire of many many people to help clean up the beaches affected by the spilled contents from the stranded ship. Up until now the authorities have deemed it better and safer to let the contractors deal with this aspect. But with the bulky stuff removed this is the opportunity for the willing army of volunteers to move in and over 100 have started to remove the bits of plastic and other small items from Seaton beach. James Chubb from East Devon District Council is the guy coordinating everything and those who turned up plus the hundreds of others who couldn't make it this time have submitted their email addresses so that information regarding this and future clean ups can be transmitted efficiently. This is where email really comes into its own.

These volunteer clean ups are excellent; they cut right across the social, age and class divide. This first go at Seaton beach was relatively easy in access terms, later ones could be more tricky.