Alexander Stevenson, our Environment and Place Services Officer, recently stepped away from his day-to-day role to conduct a beach assessment for the 2025 Scotland's Beach Awards.
With 52 beaches winning an award this year, Alexander's experience provides a brilliant insight into what we do when we assess a beach and what it needs to gain an award.
This year I’ve been lucky to step away from my normal role within Keep Scotland Beautiful, if only for a short day trip or two, and dive into one of our other great activities. It’s one that’s put me back in touch with the places I spent a lot of time on growing up, and was able to enjoy with friends, family and an old canine companion.
Growing up in Argyll and Bute I was really fortunate to be flanked on all sides by the coastline of the Kintyre peninsula and the amazing beaches we have in that part of the country. Having just returned from a camping trip on the Aberdeenshire and Moray coast, I could easily have been somewhere else in the world with white sandy beaches and cool, clear waters.
I’m talking about Scotland’s beaches and, more particularly, Scotland’s Beach Awards.
Scotland’s Beach Awards set the benchmark for the quality of our coastlines; celebrating the cleanliness, management, sustainability, and value of our beaches for the people that visit them, every year. Our coastline, all 11,800km of it, boasts an impressive diversity of beaches for everyone to enjoy. Whether you love water sports, wildlife watching or simply want a quiet place to watch the ocean or take a wander, there is a beach out there for you.
The question is, what does the day in the life of a rookie beach assessor look like?
Well, considering we live in Scotland, and as beautiful as we would like to keep it, it rarely returns the favour; so you’ve got to make sure you have all the odds and ends you need to meet every eventuality. That means a waterproof jacket, some half decent footwear and maybe, just maybe, something to protect you from the sun. A bottle of water and some snacks to get you through are also essential. Luckily for me it wasn’t a bad day when I got doon the watter to start my assessments, and I may even have returned home a little bronzer than I left. Thank you, Ayrshire sun!
Alongside all these things to keep you going you also need the details of the beach you will be visiting - it is a serious business at the end of the day. So, a map, the assessment pack, a camera, and a little first aid kit were also required.
So, what do we look for?
The beach assessments cover a range of criteria; from first impressions on arrival, safety, information and equipment, community involvement and, crucially, a detailed look at the absence or presence of litter, waste and other negative factors on the beach, dunes, and surrounding environments.
This is what is often termed local environmental quality and is one of the main things we assess across a range of other programmes at Keep Scotland Beautiful.
With 80% of marine litter starting its journey on land, the information we can gather as part of these assessments is important for building up a picture of the health of our coastline and the challenges faced, whilst also representing an opportunity to highlight the groups that help to address the issue. So many of our projects reinforce one another – and the relationship between Upstream Battle® and Scotland’s Beach Awards, as well as our LEQ surveys and assessments, demonstrate the scope and overlap of our work. All of it is so critical to preserving these amazing spots, allowing us, as well as other local inhabitants - the wildlife - to enjoy them.
That’s all pretty generalised, so in a bit more depth my first day out at the beach went a bit like this.
Arriving there at around 10am I started off by looking around to find the information boards; one containing information about water quality and beach safety information and accessibility, as well as, a second board which featured information about community events, focussed on maintaining the beach for visitors. These boards served two purposes: communicating how to enjoy the beach in a safe and respectful manner, and to celebrate the actions of those that want to preserve the beach, their work and achievements, inspiring others to take action.
A further quick check around the main beach hut building and facilities to ensure they were of a presentable standard was next and, satisfied with my findings, I had a nosey around the car park, looking for a suitable number and type of bins. What was great to see was that they were decorated with posters and artwork from local schools, another positive showing the connection between the beach, the beach users, and that early understanding of environmental issues, which is so important and encouraging. Before setting off along the beach I made sure I could find the relevant safety equipment, took some quick photographs as a record, and tightened up my laces.
Off we go and what do we look out for?
With all beaches varying in size, being prepared for a fair bit of walking is a must, particularly as you need to go the full stretch of the award area; covering from the water’s edge, to the intertidal area, and right up to the dunes. A nice zig-zag of the beach award area is essential to cover all the key parts, identifying any issues, although it does draw some strange looks from passers-by. Fortunately, a friendly dog will always break the ice before you need to explain you’re not lost. So, when inspecting the beach, we are looking at how much and what type of litter is there; is it sporadic, isolated or in small pockets, or is it in significant deposits which are easy to spot but harder to quantify?
This is why the zig-zag across the beach area is needed. It paints that bigger picture and allows you to make a more informed assessment, as well as helping to spot where an issue is most prominent. To do this our LEAMS approach is used to record litter and a variety of other environmental incivilities; you also need to be on the lookout for other negatives: graffiti, dog-fouling or fly tipping. The sorts of things that can spoil the beach for visitors, but also the wildlife.
Having walked the length of the beach award area, admired the landscape and taken in the sea air, I made my way up and over the dunes to walk along the green space behind the beach. Again, an in-depth look at the surrounding area is revealing about the challenges faced, and it is all useful information when reports come to be written. This first beach I was able to visit had a lot of different things to do for a wide, diverse group of needs. Its lovely to see things on offer for everyone to be able to enjoy, as everyone has a different reason for wanting or needing to get outdoors and visit a beach. As a person that enjoys staying active and likes learning about history and the natural world, I was one of the people in their happy place.
The final task is collating all the information gathered to build up that picture of what the beach looked like on the day and time of the visit. We live in a digital age, so everything can be entered online at your fingertips and it is relatively user friendly. It’s then on to the next one.
So, what was I left with?
Overall, my first foray into the world of Scotland’s Beach Awards was thoroughly enjoyable...as was the enormous scone I had which made up my lunch. It wasn’t my typical day at the office, or even out of the office for that matter. The beach I visited had some room for improvement; with that being said, there were also features which would make good practice examples for other beaches to follow; all of which is good food for thought for my next time out assessing our wonderful coastlines. As I looked back down the beach before I left, I was impressed by a few things:
- The beach was clean, and care had been taken by users on the day to dispose of their litter or dog waste in the bins provided
- Diversity; in terms of the available things to do or see, and of the people that come to Scotland’s shores for a daytrip
- The work to maintain these places doesn’t stop because you’ve got a certificate. There is always more we can do, as individuals, groups, or as a society to keep beaches clean.
- Following on from my last point, if it is so worth it, why?
What were my lasting impressions of my day out assessing one of Scotland’s beaches? Well, it will hopefully help to answer the why.
Well, it reminded me of how special our beach and coastal environments are and how important it is that we play our part in preserving and celebrating them; and those that keep them so that we might enjoy them for years to come. It reminded me of the beautiful places that are on our doorstep, that make up part of the diverse landscapes, stories and culture of our country. It reminded me of growing up at the coast and how I miss it.
Every time I make it back to the seaside the first thing I remember, is the smell of salt air. It makes me think of all the happy memories I’ve had, and all the ones I will have in years to come by the beach. Celebrate our beaches now, so we can protect them for the future.
There are 52 Scotland's Beach Awards winners across the country in 2025. Visit our beach map to find one near you or plan a trip somewhere you've never been.
