Buncrana conservation group honours local children who won national award 

The Mill River Conservation Group in Buncrana has held an event to congratulate the local North West Home Education Group (NWHEG)  on winning the Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Youth of the Year 2023 Award, which honours younger Clean Coasts volunteers.

Clean Coasts is a charity programme, run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life.  

This group of children and young adults, who are home-educating, joined Clean Coasts in 2021 and have carried out beach and river cleans in Inishowen.

Six Inishowen schools allocated almost €50,000 in Stem grants

Post-primary and primary schools in Buncrana, Carndonagh and Muff have been allocated funding for science, technology, engineering and maths

The children from the group were presented with an Ocean Hero certificate and a handmade tree decoration. The Mill River Conservation Group also presented them with the Mill River Keeper Award. 

NWHEG started weekly beach meet-ups in Buncrana in 2021 with qualified swimming instructors to teach the children sea swimming. They wanted to reconnect with local beaches and with each other following the lockdown. They met every week to swim in Lough Swilly, play beach sports and learn about biodiversity including coastal wildlife and plants.

When the weather worsened, they realised that the sea was polluted. Ladies Bay has swimming restrictions in place since 2022. 

Inspired by Clean Coasts, this year the NWHEG decided as a group to conduct an investigation into what is safe to flush down our toilets.

The children carried out controlled science experiments; met weekly at the Buncrana Angling Centre; devised a questionnaire for the public and collated results; held two river events with The Mill River Conservation Group and had a Think Before You Flush workshop with Olivia Jones from Clean Coasts. 

They enjoyed learning facts, carrying out kick sampling in the river, learning about fish, insects and the European eel. 

They created a display and showcased it at the ESB Science Blast, winning a trophy and raising public awareness. They have big plans for 2024 and will have the display exhibited for the community. 

They have held beach and river cleans in Buncrana, Culdaff, Dunree and Ludden. The group also enjoyed the practical litter picking and everyone learned how to do this safely as there were some hazardous items found by the children.