Six-year-old Betsy clears NINETEEN bags of rubbish from Margate main sands

Betsy and older sister Dacey will their rubbish haul

The Thanet council bin trucks might be out of action but man – and girl – power has resulted in two beach clear ups of mounds of mess left behind by sunseekers.

On Wednesday six-year-old Betsy Skinner collected a massive 19 bags of litter from Margate main sands.

The youngster, from Margate, is raising cash for her school, St George’s primary, towards the completion of an outdoor learning space. She has a £500 target and has already raised £200.

She had aimed to collect at 50 bags of rubbish over the summer but after this week’s massive haul is now expecting to clear many more.

Georgia and Betsy

Mum Georgia said: “Litter-bugging is a real ibug bear for Betsy. She feels very strongly about it. Our first beach clean was at Walpole Bay and we only managed to get one sack there so couldn’t believe the difference at Margate.

“Her sisters, aged 9 and 17, enjoyed helping her are hoping to help more.”

Last year the youngster set herself a summer challenge of running, walking and cycling 50k to raise money forthe school and topped her £500 target.

Find her fundraising page here

Photo Max Scott

This morning two council workmen also tackled the enormous amount of waste left on the Margate main sands by beachgoers yesterday.

15 Comments

  1. Congratulations on your efforts Betsy.

    Such a shame that the rubbish collection now relies on a six-year-old . . .

    Perhaps she should be employed as the Beach Inspector as she clearly does a better job !

    • How does anyone know where the people who drop litter come from? There is no need to generalize about Londoners. Plenty of people who have never been to London drop litter.

      • Marva have to agree with you it is not just a certain area a person comes from it’s about 75% of society which are mindless and don’t think or care of any thing these type are everywhere in this country. Also how many people who live in London are londoners Alan.

    • Hi Anne, there is a link at the bottom of the article that takes you to Betsy’s fundraising page

  2. If I had my I would sack most of the people that work at TDC they are not fit for purpose margate sea front shoul have cleaners out all the time in the summer months, also the holiest situation is a disgrace.people should definitely be fined for leaving there rubbish, but the council need to supply more bins or empty them when they are full

  3. We get the council we voted for, and the government we voted for.
    We voted, by a slim majority, for national and local governments whose avowed ideology is to cut taxes, and consequently services.
    Here’s an idea: from the money we’ve saved on taxes by voting Tory let’s put in a few quid each to get in private contractors!

    • Tony I agree to an extent what you’re saying but I couldn’t and wouldn’t even if I was paid to vote Tory or Labour. Tory as you say is cut cut cut, Labour is spend spend spend. We need people who do things that are right for everyone taking each citizen into account and the needs of the area they are voted in by and not necessarily what the government demands as they are supposed to be to different playing fields.

  4. How is that the council have people patrolling the towns and issuing fines to people for dropping an apple core, yet this disgusting level of littering is allowed to go unpunished? The patrols should be here on the beach! They’d soon have enough money in fines to supply a sufficient amount of bins!

  5. Betsy you are an inspiration, let’s hope that those that leave the rubbish are feeling guilty but I doubt it, it’s such a shame that a 6 year old is cleaning up after adults who should no better, you are obviously from a lovely family with morals, hope you get your sponsor money for your school ????

  6. I saw 2 cleaner/picker upers hiding/skiving in Wetherspoons on sat 27th afraid of a slight drizzle. They are obviously left to there own devices and how and when to work. They looked no older than 16 to 20 and had no intention of working unsupervised. WHY

  7. We do litter picks in garlinge with the residents association. My grandchildren take part and are appalled at the rubbish. They are aged between 5 and 13. When are people going to start taking a pride in their environment???

  8. Well done Betsy you are an inspiration to us all i have left you a donation on your fund raising page

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