Ospreys players collected an incredible 40 bags of rubbish on Saturday afternoon when they took part in an organised beach clean at Prestatyn Sands.
Beachgoers were stunned to stumble across the sight of well known international rugby players mucking in alongside members of Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council to clean up the foreshore area, while the sight also drew out guests attending a wedding at the nearby Beaches Hotel for a good look.
The players were in the area for the RWE npower renewables North Wales Rugby Festival at nearby Rhyl RFC, but they were keen to take time-out from the rugby to don protective gloves and collect a supply of litter-pickers and rubbish bags before taking to the beach and dunes for an hour. Also participating were RWE npower renewables staff, including Head of Operations, Andy Billcliff, and Head of Development and Projects, Wayne Cranstone.
The beach clean was organised by the Mayor of Prestatyn, Cllr Gerry Frobisher, in his role as Volunteer Co-Ordinator of Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council, and with 40 bags of rubbish, including deck chairs, sleeping bags, cans, bottles and plastic bags, removed from the beach and the dunes, the exercise was certainly a worthwhile one that will benefit both the local community and the many tourists who visit the area.
Ian Evans was one of the players leading the tidy up, and he commented:
"It's incredible the amount of rubbish that we picked up on the beach in just an hour. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that we bagged, it's unbelievable the stuff that people leave behind them when they've been to the beach. We could have gone all day but we only had an hour. Still, 40 bags is a lot of rubbish for us to take away with us so it's definitely a lot cleaner now than when we got there on Saturday.
"While the trip to North Wales was mainly about rugby, we were keen to give something extra back to the local community and this was the ideal opportunity to do that. Hopefully, the people of Prestatyn and anyone else who visits will appreciate our efforts to provide them with a cleaner beach, and will also remember to take their rubbish home with them when they leave."
His fellow Osprey Scott Baldwin added:
"It was really hard work, but worthwhile. We all got stuck in and I think when we got back to the meeting point at the end we were shocked by how much we managed to collect all together. We could only cover so much of the beach between us so it's shocking to think what we would have collected if we'd had longer and been able to cover more ground.
"Everybody enjoys spending time at the beach during the summer holidays, and even when we were working we managed to enjoy it. The whole community benefits from a clean beach so we're just glad to have been able to help the local community with our efforts on Saturday afternoon, that will, hopefully, make it a nicer place for families when they visit this week."