THE Friends of Poldhu were this week presented with the John Mackay Award from the Lizard Friends of the Earth in recognition of their commitment to keeping the beach clean.

This award is presented annually to groups or individuals that have contributed to maintaining the environment. It is the result of a bequest from Porkellis residents John Mackay and is now in its twelfth year and consists of a perpetual trophy locally carved from Cornish oak and a small gift to spend locally.

Last year the trophy and prize went to town warden Craig Bowcutt for his conscientious work in improving the appearance and security of Helston's streets. Other previous winners have included the former Meneage Street greengrocers Fruit and Veg 4 U who provided an in-town alternative to supermarket shopping, and the Sustainable Trust for its wide-ranging work in protecting and enhancing the natural and built environment in West Cornwall.

The Friends of Poldhu was formed by dog walker, Alan Noble; cafe owner, Ross Hocking and the National Trust's Ellie Parsons. Discussions took place and we felt that with the depletion of resources for local authorities something had to be done about communities accepting responsibilities of asset management or our prized coastal areas would suffer," said Alan. "With a core group of seven members I was asked to convene 'Friends of Poldhu' to facilitate regular beach cleans and management of the beach use by dog walkers."

Facebook and Twitter accounts soon followed which enabled the group to publicise and arrange beach cleaning. From its initial core group, they arrange monthly beach cleans which regularly attract between 15 and 25 volunteers. "There is no doubt that since starting the cleaning there has been a positive impact on the ongoing state of the beach," said Alan. "Generally the public seem to be much more responsible for their own litter and dog problems are diminishing.

"However there is no diminution of the litter from the fishing industry which accounts for over 90 per cent of our collections. On a normal beach clean we collect 15 to 20 sacks of rubbish comprising mostly of plastic twine, nets and discarded boat materials.

"We have been very grateful for the support of the National Trust, who provide hot drinks for our volunteers, and to Cornwall Council who collect the rubbish. Our group has not limited itself to Poldhu but has undertaken cleaning at Soapy Cove and Gunwalloe. Also we have noticed that members of the public are undertaking ad hoc cleaning and make good use of the 'cleaning station' provided by the National Trust."