TTPT: Volunteer Numbers 

The EGCP’s Turning the Plastic Tide project has been up and running since 2018, organising beach cleans and promoting the health of East Grampian beaches. This section will focus on volunteer numbers attending TTPT beach cleans. For more information on litter tonnage collected and school engagement, please visit the respective pages. 

Volunteer Numbers:
TTPT beach cleans are made possible by volunteers. These volunteers are of all ages and from many groups within the community. Other than a brief dip due to Covid, the project has seen a consistently healthy turnout of volunteer engagement. Figure 1 shows a cumulative total of both cleans and volunteer numbers, passing 300 cleans and nearly 8000 volunteers by the end of 2024. 1201 volunteers got involved in 2024 (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 a), 1620 in 2023 (Smith and Dunkley, 2023), and 2,500 between 2018-2020 (Paris, 2021). 

Volunteer Breakdown:
TTPT beach cleans are open to any group within the community. A breakdown of the groups involved in 2024 is shown in figs. 2 & 3. The largest number of cleans – 23 – were undertaken by corporate groups, 21 were community events, while 13 were by schools / youth groups (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 b). 

Corporate cleans, totalling at 463 volunteers in 2024, are those undertaken by staff from various local businesses and organisations (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 b). The cleans offer an excellent opportunity for team building and involvement in the local community. 

Schools and Youth Group cleans are open to children of primary and secondary age from around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. 374 young people and their teachers/leaders took part in TTPT cleans in 2024 across 13 different events (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 b). Getting children and young people involved is a major goal of the TTPT project, as it helps get the next generation engaged in caring for the environment - please see the page on youth engagement to learn more. 

Community cleans may be open to the public, or organised with community groups. 21 such cleans took place in 2024, attracting 351 volunteers (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 b). The largest single event of 2024 was a community clean: The collaboration with Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust got both players and fans involved, resulting in a whopping 110 volunteers (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 b). Such events allow TTPT staff to interact with community members who may otherwise have been unaware of the project, informing them of issues facing their local environment and the opportunities available to help protect it. 

Volunteer Feedback:
Volunteers feedback is often very positive, as the cleans offer a way to give back to the community, switch off from daily worries, and spend time outdoors. Here are just a few examples of the feedback we have received:
"I really enjoyed participating in the beach clean at Aberdeen. I will keep an eye out for your future cleans and look forward to attending more." - Individual Volunteer
"It is always our pleasure to support EGCP and Turning the Plastic Tide." - Corporate Volunteers
"I hadn't taken part in a beach clean before and so wasn't sure what to expect, I found the beach clean itself quite relaxing and almost meditative, it was well organised and clear with all of the equipment provided. TTPT made it very easy to participate." - Individual volunteer. 

How to Get Involved:
Should a TTPT event sound interesting to you, your organisation, or your school, please reach out! Various methods of contacting us are listed below:
- Email: 
o TTPT Project Manager Lauren Smith: lauren.smith@egcp.org.uk
o TTPT Project Officer Lauren Dunkley: lauren.dunkley@egcp.org.
- Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/turning-the-plastic-tide-57209531943
o All public events are advertised here 
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TTPTnortheast
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ttptnortheast/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw%3D%3D
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttptnortheast.bsky.social
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/turning-the-plastic-tide/?viewAsMember=true 

All data was provided by Lauren Smith and Lauren Dunkley (2024)