Sea-Changers to hold virtual festival

DIVING NEWS

Sea-Changers to hold virtual festival

Sea Changers X scaled

In May 2011, two UK scuba divers set up a charity to raise funds for UK marine-conservation projects – and now Sea-Changers plans to celebrate its 10th anniversary by holding a “virtual festival”.

Founders Helen Webb and Rachel Lopata still run the organisation on a voluntary basis, supported by a board of trustees and a network of volunteers. Their online festival is set to cover a week from Wednesday 23-30 June.

Sea-Changers establishes fund-raising partnerships with commercial bodies that serve consumers who access, enjoy or travel by sea. Grants, each typically of up to £1200, are allocated twice a year through an open application programme, and more than 200 have been issued over the decade to help fund activities ranging from beach-cleaning and marine-species conservation to citizen-science and public-awareness projects.

“Small sums of money distributed around the UK’s seas and shores can catalyse new ideas, seed practical action and reach new audiences,” say Webb and Lopata. And some of the partnerships have generated substantial sums of money – Hebridean Island Cruises and its customers, for example, have contributed almost £45,000 over the past decade.

The charity’s festival of virtual events aims to spotlight existing projects, with participants including the Shark Trust, National Lobster Hatchery, Cornwall Seal Research Group and Project Seagrass.

26 May 2021

Individuals involved include marine biologists, conservationists and broadcasters Miranda Krestovnikoff, Helen Scales, Maya Plass and Heather Koldewey.

The programme of events can be found here and registration is free, but Sea-Changers also hopes to raise further donations over the week to support its main grants fund, its Bunzl-supported Coastal Water Fountain Fund and its new Innovation Fund, supported by MRT.

biggest

How Do You Attach a Jon Line? @BrentHollett #askmark #scuba

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

Get a weekly roundup of all Divernet news and articles Scuba Mask
We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Connect With Us

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x