As part of the nationwide 10-day-long Great British Beach Clean initiative, 41 members of staff from Thameslink and Southern volunteered to take part in a cleanup of Brighton Beach.

The group focused on picking up litter from a 100m stretch of beach near to the i360, Brighton’s moving observation tower.

A total of 345 pieces of rubbish were collected by the team.

The trash weighed over 10kg and was mostly plastic.

In order to aid the Marine Conservation Society in their understanding of the types of pollution in our seas, the volunteers also catalogued all of the items collected.

Southern and Thameslink volunteers carried out a litter cleanup in Brighton at this last time year too, collecting 589 items.

The operators also run a range of other initiatives to help communities in the areas they serve, such as projects with mental health charity Samaritans.

The countrywide Great British Beach Clean is organised by the Marine Conservation Society, and the event with Southern and Thameslink staff was also supported by Councillor Joy Robinson from Brighton & Hove City Council and the Southeast Community Rail Partnership.

Many of our stations are in locations with beautiful beaches, and it’s really important we support our communities to help keep them looking that way.

Jason Brooker, Head of Environment at Govia Thameslink Railway