A few days ago, I spotted a Sussex event that is a call for people who are passionate about our local coast and want wildlife thriving which is at the De La Warr Pavilion on Saturday the 10^th September. This inspiring event is for people aged 16-25 and it is organised by our local organisation, Sussex Wildlife Trust and their project group called the Wild Coast Sussex. The event is called “Ocean Hackathon” and it is very interesting to observe that the same headline events are taking place in another 15 Nations around the world during this year. This may well be the first and possibly the only current event that is taking place in our Nation. As it is explained on the De La Warr website which is the location for people to register to attend it “Workshop with us as we hack our way through current issues and find imaginative ways to tackle the big questions. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts – there is no need for you to have any previous knowledge of ocean conservation!”. Our region will benefit enormously from the people who will attend this event and we will be inspired in our communities. It is inspiring that along with the headline to the other 15 events taking place in other nations, that this event explains that this “free event is run by the Marine Conservation Society, as part of the Wild Coast Sussex Project, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund” and that the project has also “received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union.” The fact that the EU are partly funding this event is very encouraging.

It would be really useful for our local Councils and our MPs to promote this event and inspire people who are able to take part to participate for their communities. They could also endorse the wildlife projects that emerge in Sussex and support the organisation before and after this important event. According to their website “Wild Coast Sussex inspires Sussex communities to care for the marine environment and enable them to protect their local coast and sea”. Clearly there are a number of themes that have challenges for our coastal areas and we need all of our MPs, particularly those whose constituencies include the sea or rivers to respond to this event and the outcomes that emerge. In the past I had the privilege to work with Chris Corrigan who has recently become the CEO of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and we both worked with Councils across the South East for several years. I am sure that Chris would be able to respond to the Councillor Leaders and MPs in Sussex if they are willing to support this project.

As it happens it is some time since Sussex MPs have referred to the Sussex Wildlife Trust but in the past several of them have done so. There are others that have not yet spoken about it in Parliament but some of those MPs have referred to their coastal areas as a vital theme. The most recent person who spoke about the Wildlife Trust was Andrew Griffith who mentioned it during a debate on Housing Developments back in September 2020. His comment was “I accept that they may currently be somewhat out of favour, but, as the excellent Sussex Wildlife Trust has highlighted to me, there are also extremely rare bat colonies relying on the native woodlands, ancient hedgerows and streams of West Sussex.” A year earlier Henry Smith spoke during a discussion on the theme of Restoring Nature and Climate Change and he commented “join me in paying tribute to the Sussex Wildlife Trust and the wildlife trusts around the country that do so much to support our environment with innovative and practical solutions?” Back in 2016 Maria Caulfield was speaking during a discussion about badger culling and she mentioned in the context of farmers in East Sussex that she was involved with “We also have a trained and licensed group of volunteers ready to go, and the support of the Sussex Wildlife Trust.” Then in 2014 Caroline Lucas was involved in a discussion about flood risks and she stated “Last week, I received a report from the Sussex Wildlife Trust that sets out an evidence-based approach to flood protection” The only other current MP who has referred to the agency was Tim Loughton who in 2003 he stated a “report was from the Sussex Wildlife Trust” and also back in 1997 he said “The Sussex Wildlife Trust stated.” It is encouraging that these MPs have referred to the Sussex Wildlife Trust in the past and we can hope that perhaps all of them will endorse this event through social media and then listen to the local people who have attended the event.