Prestigious ‘citizen award’ for Lianne

A community champion from Sutton on Sea, Lianne Havell, has been recognised in this year’s prestigious British Citizen Award roll of honour for her inspiring work as a coastal and marine advocate.
Lianne receiving her awardLianne receiving her award
Lianne receiving her award

In 2016, Lianne founded Sutton on Sea BeachCare, a team of volunteers who care for the local coastline.

The BeachCare programme, delivered by Keep Britain Tidy in partnership with Anglian Water, encourages local communities to take responsibility for their coastal habitats, undertaking various activities focused on maintaining the beauty of our beaches and safety of wildlife.

Irrespective of weather, Lianne and her volunteers regularly remove huge quantities of rubbish before it reaches the ocean and keeping the area clean and safe for residents, tourists and wildlife.

Since the start of 2021, the team has undertaken 114 beach cleans, collected 843 cans, 772 plastic bottles, 60 glass bottles, 381 face masks, and filled 213 bags of litter.

Lianne has also raised awareness and understanding of the coastal environment to residents and organisations.

In 2019, Lianne spearheaded the effort to establish Sutton on Sea and Mablethorpe as a plastic free community.

A devoted volunteer for all aspects of marine life, Lianne dedicates her time to several other coastal organisations.

She is a volunteer Marine Mammal Medic, trained by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, where she helps marine life in trouble, rescuing seals, dolphins and whales stranded on her local beach.

Catherine Holborn, who nominated Lianne for the award, said, “Lianne has been the driving force in the community for action against the issues the coastline faces; litter pollution, wildlife safety and protection of historical artefacts.

“Without Lianne, Sutton on Sea as a community may be less aware of the problems surrounding litter pollution and would undoubtedly have less opportunity to make a positive difference to local marine wildlife.”

Lianne told the Leader: “I still feel quite overwhelmed to be honest. It was quite a day!”

Visit www.facebook.com/SuttonOnSeaBeachcare for further information.