FrANC was approached by BBC Countryfile and asked we were willing to be filmed as part of a special episode featuring litter clean-ups. So on 30th March, seven of us who were available at short notice on a Wednesday morning, donned our FrANC high-vis vests, grabbed our litter pickers and started cleaning under the watchful eye of a cameraman.  The area chosen for filming was the banks of the River Avon towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a bit outside FrANC’s normal remit as the crew needed a site that was relatively quiet and didn’t block public pavements. 

The episode, which was broadcast on Sunday 10th April 2022, was a special feature called “Plant Britain by the Sea”. After learning how sea grass beds are being replanted and the importance of sand dunes in protecting our coastline, there was a stark statistic quoted that 80% of marine litter comes from inland sources. Cue FrANC chair Tim Wickstead on camera explaining briefly what we do, followed by an impassioned plea by Alisdair Naulls of the Rivers Trust to help clean our rivers and seas. 

You can watch the episode on BBC iPlayer if you missed it on the day. FrANC appears near the end at around 1:03:55.