BOURNEMOUTH’S Arts by the Sea Festival (October 14 -21) is organising a large recycling project with a sculpture made of recycled plastic bottles.

The project called, Save Our Seas – Message in a Bottle, and in a testament to the times we live in, there will be no shortage of material to create the sculpture with.

This eye-catching recycling project has won a Wessex Watermark Award of £400 to help to pay for two workshops during the opening weekend.

‘Message in a Bottle’ is an awareness raising event on the use of plastics in our daily lives, its impact on the sea and is designed to provoke thoughts about how we can make a difference.

The public are invited to think about their own recycling habits and come along during the opening weekend and write their message on a bottle as part of the installation.

Wessex Water’s Flood Risk Coordinator Gillian Sanders will be presenting the cheque to Bournemouth Borough Council ‘s Festival’s Director Andrea Francis on Tuesday 19th September.

Andrea said: “Local residents, schools and students will all be involved in a beach clean to gather materials to work with, and we will be turning plastic bottles into a large sculpture which will be in place for the duration of the festival. By working with artists to create this sculpture we can raise awareness of the global issue of marine pollution in a creative way that fits with our festival theme of ‘Plastic Beach’”

“We aim to share information about the impact of pollution on our seas and the consequences of a throw-away society and encourage people to do what they can to make a difference. We are thrilled with this support from Wessex Water to fund the two school workshops.”

The Watermark Award provides funds for environmental projects within the Wessex Water area. Now in its twenty-third year, it has supported over 900 environmental initiatives. Organised by The Conservation Foundation, all projects are judged by a panel chaired by its President - David Bellamy.