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About

Coast Care is an initiative created to train, support and resource volunteers to contribute to the management and conservation of the Northumberland coastline from Berwick to Amble.

The region is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and incorporates many Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI). Volunteers will care for our sandy beaches, rolling dunes, historic buildings, village greens and other community spaces which make up our coastal environment.

There are a range of volunteer roles including performing wildlife surveys, practical conservation tasks and local site wardens. We have projects to suit a wide range of interests and capabilities.

Coast Care is a project enabling volunteers to access training, support and resources to conserve and protect the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Team

These are the people who help keep this great project afloat.

Emma Wilson

Emma Wilson

Volunteering and Access Officer

I’m Emma Wilson, the new Volunteering and Access Officer for the Northumberland Coast AONB, and I manage our team of Coast Care volunteers.I am indeed privileged, as they are an exceptional group of people who give up their valued timeand each bring their unique skills, ideas andexperience to the CoastCare community. They support us to protect, preserve, and improve this beautiful area in which we live.

To find out more about Coast Care, or to sign up as a volunteer, you can email me at emmaw@coast-care.co.uk

Chris Cobb

Chris Cobb

Volunteer lead

Mandy Fall

Mandy Fall

Volunteer Leader

Hi, I’m Mandy. During my first visit to Northumberland in 2019, I fell in love with the coastline here, and moved up from Yorkshire the very next year. I have always had a special interest in wildlife, particularly marine environments, and determined to help preserve them, I joined Coast Care before I even moved up to live at Howick. I really enjoy our coastal birds and take part in WeBS counts and farmland bird surveys, as well as the Ringed Plover breeding surveys including helping with their nest protection. My other great passion is for cetaceans and I am involved with recording and studying the whales and dolphins which we see from our coastline, so I carry out shore watches regularly. As well as habitat restoration work, I lead beach cleans as often as I can as I feel we all need to do our bit to help our coastal habitats.

Joyce
Andy P
John Everitt

Being a Coast Care Lead Volunteer is an extremely rewarding role. As well as the associated benefits of working outdoors and meeting like minded volunteers who share a passion for this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it also allows me the opportunity to maintain and in some cases improve the coastal areas that matters the most to me.

Andy P

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is exactly what it says it is: an outstanding landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so precious that it is in the nation's interest to safeguard them.

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is a statutory designation established by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Together with National Parks, AONBs represent the nation's finest landscapes. The primary purpose of the AONB designation is to conserve and enhance natural beauty.

The Northumberland Coast was designated as an AONB in 1958, covering an area of 138 sq km along 64km of the coastline between Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Coquet Estuary.

Northumberland County Council has a statutory duty to ensure that the natural beauty of the Northumberland coast is conserved and enhanced and to prepare a management plan setting how the council's policies for the management of the AONB.

The Partnership

To assist the council in the conservation and enhancement of the Northumberland Coast AONB, the Northumberland Coast AONB Partnership was formed in 2003. Comprising of local people, representatives of statutory agencies and interest groups, the Partnership guides the policies of the council and the work of the staff team.

The role of the Partnership is to pursue and champion the purposes of designation of the Northumberland Coast AONB and to assist in the delivery of the partners' statutory duties and other management aspirations in respect of the AONB.

Our Partners

We are working together with Northumberland Coast AONB to look after our coastal environment.

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"I met some wonderful people and really felt that my work helped make a difference to my local area."

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