Final Straw Foundation gets 'tremendous' boost with £150,000 National Lottery grant

The Final Straw Foundation, set up as Final Straw Solent in 2018, has received £150,000 in funding via the National Lottery.

Spread out over the course of five years, the funding will allow co-founders Bianca Carr and Lizzie Pollard to expand their operation and have a bigger impact on the environment.

Bianca said: 'This is absolutely huge news for us.

'With this money we will be hiring two people as outreach support staff, who will help us with beach cleans, eco clubs and so much more.

'It frees up Lizzie and I to do more work with businesses and organisations, working with them to ditch single-use plastics for good.'

Bianca admitted that it has been a 'crazy' couple of years, juggling many different responsibilities at once.

To date, more than 400 organisations have signed up to the foundation's anti-plastic pledge, including the University of Portsmouth, Fleet Air Arm Museum and the Kings Theatre.

Alongside this, the Final Straw Foundation organises regular beach cleans, and holds eco clubs for young people to learn more about environmental conservation in a fun and engaging way.

Bianca added: 'We started from absolutely nothing, and so to have made it this far is just mind-blowing.

'This funding shows just how far we've come and the impact that we've had on the environment already - but we're definitely not slowing down anytime soon.

'We're so grateful for this funding from the National Lottery and this will make a tremendous difference to the work we do each day.'

Since Bianca and Lizzie started the project, The News has campaigned alongside them, working to bring more companies and organisations on board and then highlighting the changes they make.

After pressure from groups across the country, the government finally outlawed plastic straws on October 1 last year.

Since then, the Final Straw Foundation has broadened its scope, and despite lockdowns and restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has seen an influx of volunteers signing up to help with the fight against plastic.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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