9yr olds put their paddling skills to good use – Zoe Rutherford and Imogen stand up litter pick

It’s always great to hear about the good work of SUPers. Even better when said paddlers are still young. We were sent the following by Zoe’s mum, Judith. It just goes to show you’re always at the right age to make a difference. Great skills girls! (And we’re sure you’ll get your BP badge).

My name is Zoe, I am 9 years old. My friend Imogen and I noticed that a river near us was covered in litter. We decided to do something about it. On a freezing November day we put on some wetsuits and rubber gloves. We then took out a stand up paddle boards and got to work. Overall we found mostly cans and plastic bottles but we found some other interesting objects as well like vodka, gin and beer bottles, a football and even a car wing mirror. We filled up both of our bin bags and there was still more litter on the water. We noticed that two swans were chewing on a plastic bag. We think that our litter pick will help them and other wildlife in the river. We want to clear as many rivers as possible on our SUP boards and have written to Blue Peter to see if we can get a green Eco badge and go on the show to tell them about it.