A group of wild swimmers have set up a monthly beach clean around Loch Leven.
The first Love Lochaber Beach Clean event took place on May 8 with the volunteers successfully collecting 17 sacks of rubbish.
They were so pleased with the efforts that they’ve decided to make it a monthly event, and are encouraging people to get involved.
Penny Clay, owner of Mountain Yoga Kinlochleven, said it was her passion for yoga that first inspired the beach clean.
She said: “I teach seasonal yoga which can involve spring cleaning off the mat at this time of year. I’d noticed quite a lot of negativity on social media and people complaining about the litter in the area so I decided to do something about it for my spring cleaning practice.
“It was originally something I set up through my yoga page and only planning to do in April. But after talking to a few other, including wild swimmers, I decided to extend it and set up an official group.
“It seems like an impossible problem, but there are people who want to help. I got in touch with Surfers Against Sewage who gave us lots of great resources, including reusable rubbish sacks and gloves, and then set up the first event.”
Litter recycled or dumped responsibly
Ten volunteers turned up to help pick up rubbish for an hour at the first event.
Ms Clay continued: “We picked up loads of stuff, it was very satisfying. We were able to recycle a lot, which is great and then we organised for Highlands Council to pick up the rest.
“There were some visitors at Seagull Island at the time, so we got them involved too. We all had a fantastic afternoon and all felt very motivated. Five of us even went for a swim afterwards and then enjoyed some cake and a cuppa.”
Charlotte Parkin is a wild swimming enthusiast and was one of the volunteers who took part in the first Love Lochaber beach clean.
She said: “We’re just a group of people who are passionate about wild swimming and want the area to stay as nice as possible. We decided if we were going to be spending so much time there, we’d like to do something about the litter problem.
“We’ve seen much worse littering over the past year with the sheer volume of people staying in the UK and travelling in for day trips.
The Loch Lochaber Beach Clean group will next meet on June 6 at 2pm.