Seven-year-old litter heroine has been cleaning up for five years! Eco-conscious family patrols 55-mile stretch of beach to clear rubbish

  • Rayer began tidying Northumberland’s beaches from when she was able to walk
  • Her parents said they brought up their three children to protect the environment
  • She has started a petition calling for stricter penalties on littering and fly-tipping
Armed with her collection bin and litter picker, Rayer Waddell is a veteran of the war on rubbish – and she’s still only seven years old.
Rayer began tidying Northumberland’s beaches on a daily basis with her family as soon as she was old enough to walk.
The family, from Bedlington, patrol a 55-mile stretch between Seahouses in Northumberland, and Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear.
Parents Aaron and Tracy Waddell said they had brought up their three children to understand it was important to protect the environment.
Parents Aaron and Tracy Waddell (pictured left) said they had brought up their three children to understand it was important to protect the environment. Pictured centre: Rayer. Pictured right: One of Rayer's brothers
 Parents Aaron and Tracy Waddell (pictured left) said they had brought up their three children to understand it was important to protect the environment. Pictured centre: Rayer. Pictured right: One of Rayer's brothers
Rayer (pictured) began tidying Northumberland’s beaches on a daily basis with her family as soon as she was old enough to walk
Rayer (pictured) began tidying Northumberland’s beaches on a daily basis with her family as soon as she was old enough to walk
Mr Waddell, 45, who works for Nissan, has even helped Rayer and her brother Daine with their marine biology studies to help nurture their interest.
Rayer said: ‘I’ve been doing it since I was two years old.
‘I want to keep doing it when I’m older, I want to help the animals so they don’t die.
‘When we’re on the beach we sometimes find fossils and beautiful clam shells on the sand. I love coming to the beach.’
On a recent litter-pick, 12-year-old Daine stumbled upon a rare speckled white swimming crab, native to South America. Since the 1900s there have only been 11 recorded sightings of the creature on British beaches.
The eco-conscious family said if a crab could travel across the Atlantic unintentionally then litter could, too. Daine said: ‘It makes us both really sad that people can’t take their rubbish home with them.
‘We feel a lot better after doing it because we’re helping to save marine life.’
He added: ‘It’s not just the usual plastic bottles and containers that are found either.
‘The strangest thing I’ve found is people’s clothes – we’ve found at least ten full outfits. People come to the beach and take their clothes off to swim but they sometimes leave stuff behind like trainers and everything.’

Rayer has now started a petition calling on the Government to introduce stricter penalties on littering and fly-tipping
Rayer has now started a petition calling on the Government to introduce stricter penalties on littering and fly-tipping
Rayer has now started a petition calling on the Government to introduce stricter penalties on littering and fly-tipping, as well as to promote the health and well-being of the environment. It has more than 19,000 signatures with the next milestone – 25,000 – in sight.
Mrs Waddell, 46, who home-schools all three children, said the family’s hobby began when Rayer would pick up discarded wrappers on days out. ‘From going to picnics or beaches, cleaning our own stuff is something we’ve always done, and when Rayer was very small she would just crawl along the beach picking up sweet and crisp wrappers calling them “dirty”,’ she said. Mrs Waddell said it ‘went on and on from there’ with Rayer first carrying a little bag to put the rubbish in, then a bin bag as ‘she knows the impact of what’s happening’.
She added: ‘She [Rayer] loves marine animals – there are one million sea birds dying every year from plastic particles and she’s really aware of this.
‘Rayer’s favourite phrase is,“You can’t force people to change, mammy, but you can ask them nicely” and that’s just what she’s like.

‘Once we’ve done our work in the afternoon we’re out on the beaches, but if they don’t feel up to it we don’t force it, it’s up to them.’ The family reported seeing a rise in litter following the easing of the coronavirus lockdown measures.
Mrs Waddell said: ‘People have been filling their disposable bins with their rubbish but then leave them behind and they would blow all over the beach when the wind came so it was more work for us.
‘It’s mainly single-use plastic bottles we’re seeing – we would love for people to only be allowed with their own re-usable bottles if they’re going on the beach.’
The Daily Mail and Keep Britain Tidy are encouraging the public and businesses to join the Great British September Clean and help pick up litter between September 11 and 27.
Protecting our beaches: Rayer Waddell, seven, with mother Tracy and brother Daine

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