Coast festival 2015

You may have heard recently in the press that this year is a special year for our coast. We are celebrating 50 years of the Enterprise Neptune fundraising campaign, a campaign that has helped the National Trust to acquire and care for over 740 miles of coastline, enjoyed by millions each year. The funds raised through donations and legacies has helped us to acquire more land, to manage our existing sites sensitively and sustainably, improve access, and to work closely with the general public on coastal issues. It also helps us deal with the challenges increasingly affecting our coast such as the succession of storms in early 2014. 

Lizard Point panorama

On a more local level, the Trust owns and looks after over 300 miles of the South West Coast, a huge asset to be responsible for. We provide access to favorite beaches like Kynance, estuaries like the Helford, and expanses of seascapes, as well as sites of huge archaeological importance and of course the South West Coast Path, it's through projects funded by Enterprise Neptune that has made much of this possible.  Each year it costs us around £3,000 to look after a single mile of coast, in the south west that's a million pounds a year. To find out more about the campaign visit our website page here or have a look at this short video which explains much of what we do and, importantly, why we do it. 

As it's a year of celebration we'll be holding events through the rest of the year to celebrate everything that is great about our coastal properties, here on the Lizard we've got lots on offer, click on the tab "Events 2015" at the top to find out more. This week it's beach clean week and we've got two opportunities to get involved at Gunwalloe and at Poldhu on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March. Come down for an hour or two and help us look after these special places.

To find out more about how we're celebrating the South West Coast, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/swcoast  

Layla