Each year, the Ocean Hero Awards honour the invaluable contribution Clean Coasts volunteers, groups and communities have made towards conserving our spectacular coastline.
Clean Coast’s Ocean Hero Awards Amazing Achievements Great and Small winner Caroline Davy accepting her award from Clean Coast’s Officer Maxim Kozachenko and Blackrock Cleanup Group in Cork.The involvement and support of the whole community are essential to the work of Clean Coasts and the Ocean Hero Awards is an award thought to recognise the invaluable contribution volunteers, groups and communities have made towards conserving the Irish coastline.
Caroline Davy from the Blackrock Clean Coasts group in Cork won a special prize: 'Amazing Achievements Great and Small,' that honours the unexpected, innovative and brilliant ways people have supported Clean Coasts groups in their region.
St. Colman’s Community College in Midleton won the 'Youth of the Year award' for their commitment to litter picking and beach clean-ups over the past year.
Paddle boarding and litter picking leader Subowti won the 'Enjoy and Protect award' for pushing the message of getting together cleaning up our coast and waterways during the summer.
When asked why his group does what they do, David Ludgate of Subowti said:
Youth of the Year Ocean Hero Nominees St Colman’s Community College Students with Cully and Sully Founders Cullen Allen and Colm O’Sullivan and Clean Coast Ballynamona founding member Proinsias Ó Tuama. Photo by Cathal Noonan“I like to think that we are fighting back against the constant polluting of our waters with marine litter and microplastics. we promote our waterways and coast as the fantastic resources that they are, and we raise awareness of tackling the pollution issue head on. I am frequently t
o be found out on my SUP on a plastic-clearing paddle. My tag line is - Happiest when in the water, saddest when it gets polluted."
Other shortlisted Cork groups and individuals from this year’s competition included Clean Coasts Ballynamona in the Group of the Year category, Sally O’Reilly (a member of Clean Coasts Ballynamona) in the Individual of the year category, Mark McCarthy in the #2minutebeachclean Leader Award category and Heron Help (Sam Fitzgibbon) in the Enjoy and Protect Award category.
This year in place of a traditional awards ceremony Clean Coasts decided to do something a little bit different. They surprised the Cork winners with their very own Covid safe awards ceremony where they were presented with an Ocean Heroes plaque.
