Southsea beach had a surprise spruce up on Friday (14 September) when the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth joined hundreds of local children for a very special beach clean.
The event marked the launch of Portsmouth Music Hub's 'One World' campaign.
'One World' brings together musicians, composers, performers, dancers, teachers and thousands of children in a year-long festival focussing on the environment and how we can make our planet a cleaner, safer and more sustainable home for future generations and the animals who share our world.
During the year the Music Hub will take music and drama into schools, hold art and poetry competitions and launch a special social media campaign. The year of events will finish on World Environment Day, with a major concert at the Guildhall in Portsmouth on 5 June 2019.
Sue Beckett, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Music Hub said: "Our aims for the One World campaign are two-fold; first of all we want to highlight some of the environmental issues that have an impact on our city, secondly by harnessing the power and impact of music and the arts we're encouraging the next generation of adults to fully embrace life-long environmental principles. Our 'One World' songbook has been composed to inspire children and young people to get involved and take practical action to save the world around them."
At the official launch on Friday at Southsea beach children from nearby schools sang three original songs from the Music Hub's newly composed songbook 'One World'. Fittingly the children sang 'Pollution Revolution', 'Tidy Up the Beach' and 'Nurdles' (the infamous small pellet of plastic that infests our seas). With 17 original songs the songbook, available to schools across the country, aims to change the world one song at a time with music about a whole host of issues including blue whales, plastics, bees and chlorofluorocarbons!
Sarina, aged 8, from Cottage Grove Primary School said: "I really enjoyed the singing and I'm very excited about picking up litter!"
Portsmouth Music Hub have received enthusiastic support for the One World campaign from the teaching community, Portsmouth City Council, Environmental groups and on 28 September the BBC will be filming 1500 young singers from Portsmouth performing the 'One World Song' as part of BBC Music Day.
The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Lee Mason, who helped with the beach clean said: "We all have a responsibility to preserve and protect our environment, and as Portsmouth is a coastal city the safeguarding of our environment has real resonance. Small changes to the way we live our daily lives can have a positive effect on our planet, whether that's by recycling, taking our rubbish home or by simply switching off a light when it's not in use. This is why I'm delighted to be supporting Portsmouth Music Hub's 'One World' campaign, which will stimulate and encourage us all to protect our city and our planet."