Action Bequia

𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐩 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡

On Saturday, March 21st, Action Bequia had the pleasure of welcoming Chantelle Potgieter and her climate change team from the Richmond Vale for a meaningful day of environmental action.

This incredible group of 9 passionate, environmentally conscious volunteers from around the world took to Hope Beach for a beach cleanup. Together, they collected 10 garbage bags full of waste that had washed ashore. They hauled the trash up the hill and ensured it was properly delivered to our recycling & sorting centre in Port Elizabeth.

We're deeply grateful for their energy, commitment and willingness to take action for our island. Efforts like these continue to make a real difference in protecting Bequia's natural beauty. We hope this action inspires locals and visitors alike to protect their own environment, avoid littering and take initiative by organising cleanups such as this.

Thank you again! We look forward to collaborating with the Richmond Vale Academy once again.

Action Bequia encourages all yachties to take note of the limited water supply in SVG at this time.

Furthermore, we are reminding about garbage, dumping and mooring too close to the shore which is harmful to all.

𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐮 𝐀𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐲

Here are some pictures from the unveiling of the first Memorial Bench by prolific author, journalist and regular Bequia visitor Hunter Davies. The bench program is for donors to remember a loved one and in the process help raise valuable funds for charitable causes on Bequia.

Harbor Master and Action Bequia Board Member Barry Providence who creates these benches explained how as part of Action Bequia's recycling program, bottles are crushed and then added to the concrete mix to create the structure.

John Burstein then led a spirited auction of five items of memorabilia generously donated by Hunter Davies from his past. This raised a pleasing total of nearly EC$4000 to be divided between The Sunshine School and Action Bequia.

If you want to commission a bench in memory of a loved one, you are asked to contribute a minimum of US$ 1500 (£ I,200). This covers a small contribution to the cost of making the bench and a much larger one towards Action Bequia's need for funds. Five benches have been commissioned so far and there are a total of ten in various scenic places around the island such as: Lower Bay, Spring Top, Fort Hamilton and the Harbor. If you want to know more: enquiries to [email protected] whatsapp +44 758 780 3330.

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

Over 90 people turned out for the Action Bequia Supporter's Meeting on Sunday, February 22nd. It started off with a summary by CEO David Harper of what had been achieved over the last five years and then moved on to a lively and interesting hour and a half of questions and opinions from the floor. Some thoughts:-

•Helped no doubt by complementary rum punches from Mount Gay and the welcoming atmosphere of Frangipani Hotel, the warmth towards Action Bequia and the offers of practical help where we need it were hugely encouraging. These are going to be actively followed up.

•Hopefully, it was also worth remembering that Action Bequia began in 2011 when it became obvious that some of the long standing community issues such as smelly open drains and a broken down boardwalk needed to be fixed. These are the sort of things that would normally have been done by the Municipal Authority but, given the absence of any significant program to address them, Action Bequia stepped in. The hope now is that the new government will adopt the changes required for a more effective local government. This may not happen overnight but once underway, it will enable Action Bequia to focus on addressing the issues that would normally be targeted by a voluntarily funded NGO.

•The Action Bequia Executive is also mindful of the need for a viable succession plan and rejuvenated Board... and will be working steadily towards that.

•In the meantime we need to sustain our basic operational budget of $150,000 per annum so please help us via https//:actionbequia.org/donatetoactionbequianow.php

Continued thanks for your interest and support.

𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧

As the tourism season picks up, we’re once again seeing an unfortunate rise in careless garbage dumping, particularly from some visiting yachties who leave bags of trash in appropriate places around Bequia. This kind of behaviour adds to the ugliness we all work so hard to prevent.

A few of our local helpers near Under the Almond Trees have seen this happen and will now be guiding visitors to the Market Hut, where garbage can be properly disposed of. We thank them for stepping up and helping to protect Bequia’s beauty.

This is also a good moment to remind everyone that environmental responsibility starts with awareness and education. Our Youth Environmental Awareness Programme continues to inspire the next generation of Bequia’s stewards. We’re incredibly proud of the young people who take part and the community members who support them.

If you haven’t yet seen it, please take a few minutes to watch our Green Grenadines film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s79op1KV8M

And we can’t forget Phil de Whale, another inspiring project encouraging recycling, particularly among school children as versions of this structure are placed all over Bequia, including each school.

Let’s all do our part to keep Bequia clean, green and serene for everyone.

One individual found and shared a creative way of reusing plasticGardeners of Bequiars on the Gardeners of Bequia page: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/174Z4hnLUb/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“I save all the small plastic lids (milk tops, etc) then when I need to pot a plant, I put the plastic in the bottom instead of gravel for drainage. They will never breakdown, the pot is a little lighter and they will stay out of the landfill and oceans. It's not a big up cycle but I find it satisfying. After living on different islands, it's incredible the amount of plastic waste that's on the beaches.”

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲.

The idea of some Public Benches for Lower Bay came from Hunter Davis, a well-known British journalist and author who has been visiting Bequia for the past 30 years.

He has donated generously for the first of these which will carry the following acknowledgement: “𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙖. 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝙄𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 (1938-2016) 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝘽𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙖”.

Three benches have been produced so far by the Harbour Master Barry Providence who is also a member of our nine person All Bequian Board. They show his flair for practical, eye-catching design. In keeping with Action Bequia's credentials as a major force in recycling, the concrete side supports contain approximately 35% of crushed glass.

The other two benches at Lower Bay are crying out for sponsorship and a plaque at no less than US $1300 or £1000 each. Please contact us at [email protected] if you can help. When more donations are forthcoming for this project, there are plenty of other beautiful spots around Bequia that would welcome your patronage.

Why not leave us a few suggestions as to where you would like these Public Benches to be sited?