28 Cornwall Today

twenty-twenty VISION

SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE CELEBRATES ITS TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY THIS SUMMER. MEMBER 1028 – OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SURF WRITER ALF ALDERSON - LOOKS BACK AT THIS GROUNDBREAKING CORNISH PRESSURE GROUP

Words by Alf Alderson, photographs by James Ram/westcountryphotographers.com

n summer of 1990 I found myself in St Agnes while researching my guidebook Surf UK. The local surfers I met during my stay in this

quintessential Cornish surf village were not just enthusiastic and highly accomplished wave riders, they were also very vocal about the poor

quality of the water in which they spent so much of their leisure time. In this, they were not alone. The majority of surfers of this era had to ride polluted waves.

But the St Agnes surfers were different. They didn’t just moan about the water quality of

ABOVE: HUGO TAGHOLM AND ANDY CUMMINS FROM SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE ON PORTHTOWAN BEACH

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Cornwall Today 29

SURFERS AGAIST SEWAGE

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surfers against sewage

30 Cornwall Today

their local beaches: they decided enough was enough and got together to do something about it. I well remember seeing notices pinned up around St Agnes during my stay announcing a public meeting to discuss the issue – but wearily thinking “Sure, but what can a few surfers do to influence water authorities and the government?”

Well, quite a lot as it happens. That hard core of surfers who decided at a meeting in the town on May 10,1990 that enough was enough went on to become Surfers Against Sewage, one of the most effective and respected environmental campaign groups the UK has seen. This home-grown Cornish export is now a household name among all those involved in water sports in Britain – and has clout on the international stage, too.

It’s tempting to imagine that this is a consequence of the novel way SAS promotes its campaigns – after all, surfers wearing wetsuits and gasmasks, protesting outside the Houses of Parliament or the European Commission in Brussels, would still catch the attention of the media today, let alone 20 years ago. But there’s much more to SAS than an eye for a media friendly stunt.

“SAS campaigns have always been hard hitting, accurate and effective, incorporating a great deal of intense research and hard work and, perhaps most effective of all, involving both SAS members and the public,” says Andy Cox, now the deputy Coroner of Cornwall and, like me, a member from SAS’s fledgling days.

Cox is right. Within less than a year of the initial meeting in St

Agnes, over 2,000 people had signed up to SAS, whose current membership is in excess of 6,000. But crucially, the demographic has changed, just as SAS has grown. Today’s membership may span all ages and walks of life but they’re not just surfers. They’re beach users of all kinds, who appreciate and value the group’s environmental agenda.

The first general secretary of SAS, Chris Hines MBA (honoured largely because of his tireless work with SAS), casts a proudly reflective eye over the group’s genesis. “When we started the whole thing we never believed it would become this big. It’s a testament to the surfing spirit and strength that SAS is still going strong - the passion and immediacy of the early campaigns is still present today.”

Early SAS successes included influencing water companies to adopt full sewage treatment policies for all coastal and estuarine discharges, and the organisation being asked to give evidence on water quality issues at the House of Lords, the European Parliament and the European Commission.

SAS is now recognised by government, media, academics and statutory authorities as having a genuine contribution to make to environmental issues surrounding bathing water quality, with high profile media awards in recent years for its ‘Return to Offender’ campaign (which sees beach litter being sent back to the manufacturers who produced it and has seen corporate giants Coca-Cola commit to all the proposed environmental improvements) and ‘Mermaids’ Tears’ campaign which focuses

on reducing plastic marine litter. But despite its tangible successes, SAS does not stand still.

“We’re currently very excited about our ‘Protect Our Waves (POW)’ campaign,” says campaign director Andy Cummins. “This aims to protect UK surf spots from environmental damage and negative impacts on wave quality and to safeguard water users’ rights of access to ensure windsurfers, surfers, kayakers and others can benefit from the very best sporting wave resources the country offers.”

Yet high media profile of SAS belies its size. Still based in St Agnes, it operates from modest offices and as Andy Cummins says, “From the outside looking in we can seem like a large, wealthy campaign group, but we have only a handful of permanent staff. That we achieve so much is in large part due to working long hours and being passionate about the issues that concern us and our members.”

Cummins is also quick to point out the importance of volunteers. When I met him recently at Porthtowan SAS was organising a beach clean in which SAS members and beach-goers devoted their free time to collecting rubbish from the beach. SAS provided equipment for them to do so safely and cleanly, and two volunteers, Nick Walters and Lily davey-Attlee from Falmouth, epitomised much of what SAS is all about: “We enjoy water sports and want to put something back into the environment we get so much from,” they told me. This enthusiasm was typical of the scores of people helping out at Porthtowan that day, all of whom received nothing more than a mug of hot chocolate and an SAS sticker – and probably a warm glow of satisfaction - for their help.

Yet 20 years ago such an event would have been virtually unheard of. Think of it – a group of surfers persuading the public to help clean the local beach and at the same time influencing national environmental policies: who’d have believed it? Even I wasn’t sure, but, having signed up as Member 1028, I’m proud to have been a part of the SAS revolution. It’s one that Cornwall, and St Agnes – and the surfing community – have every reason to be proud of.

“the passion and immediacy of the early campaigns is still present today”

CT

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OUT AND ABOUT

► Alf Alderson (www.alfalderson.co.uk) is an adventure sports journalist based in Pembrokeshire. He is author of ‘Surf UK’’ and ‘Surfi ng – A Beginner’s Guide’ as well as the forthcoming ‘Ultimate Surf Adventures’ (all published by John Wiley www.wileynautical.com).

► For more information on Surfers Against Sewage, including how to become a member, see www.sas.org.uk.

Becoming a member of SAS is the best way to support the campaign to protect the seas, beaches

and coastline around Cornwall and the rest of the UK.SAS have teamed up with Cornish company Pure Nuff

Stuff, who hand-make natural skincare products containing no chemical ‘nasties’ that can pollute

our watery environment. We are giving away a free 20 SPF suncream (250ml) worth £11.25 to the first 25 people that join SAS - just send in the form below or quote PURE NUFF when joining online. To join SAS please complete the form below & return to Surfers Against Sewage, Unit 2, Wheal Kitty Workshops, St Agnes, Cornwall TR5 0RD or visit www.sas.org.uk.

Name: ......................................................................................................................................................Address: ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Tel no: ......................................................................................................................................................

I would like to pay:

Unwaged £15 Single £21 Family £27 Single Life £210 Family Life £270 Corporate £51

I enclose a cheque/postal order (payable to Surfers Against Sewage)

Please charge my Visa/Mastercard/Maestro/Solo

Expiry date Valid from/Issue No Security Code

Signature/s .............................................................................................. Date ………………………………

Thank you for supporting SAS

JOIN SAS AND GET A FREE HANDMADE NATURAL SUN CREAM WORTH £11.25!

SAS have teamed up with Cornish company Pure Nuff Stuff, who hand-make natural skincare products containing no chemical ‘nasties’ that can pollute

Name: ......................................................................................................................................................Address:........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Tel no: ......................................................................................................................................................

I would like to pay:

Unwaged £15

I enclose a cheque/postal order (payable to Surfers Against Sewage)

Please charge my Visa/Mastercard/Maestro/Solo

Signature/s

Thank you for supporting SAS

Becoming a member of SAS is the best way to support the campaign to protect the seas, beaches

and coastline around Cornwall and the rest of the UK.SAS have teamed up with Cornish company Pure Nuff SAS have teamed up with Cornish company Pure Nuff

Stuff, who hand-make natural skincare products

✁

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