Residents and volunteers are being invited to join community clean ups along the Harbourside.

This summer, the Scottish Maritime Museum has partnered with Irvine Clean Up Crew to invite everyone to come along and have some fun, meet new people and make a difference on two Community Clean Up events on Irvine Harbourside and then celebrate everyone’s efforts with a walk with the giant puppet STORM.

The Community Summer Clean Up events will take place on Saturday, August 7 and Saturday, September 4. Suitable for all ages, they will combine a litter pick beginning at 11am and an environmental talk at 12.30pm. All bags, gloves and litter pickers will be provided.

The Harbourside clean up on Saturday, August 7 begins at 11am at the Scottish Maritime Museum Reception in the Linthouse building on Harbour Road.

This will be followed by a Caring for Our Environment talk in the outside seating area at 12.30pm. The talk will be given by Irvine Clean Up Crew and the North Ayrshire Rangers Service who will chat about the work they do across our urban and natural environments.

Everyone can make a day of it on Saturday, August 7 and stay on the Harbourside for Irvine Sea Cadets’ Community Open Day, which runs from 1pm – 4pm, and some nautical adventure and fun on the water. The activities start from Irvine Harbour pontoons, across from the Harbour Arts Centre (HAC).

The Irvine waterways clean up at 11am on Saturday, September 4 will be followed by a Making a Splash Fighting Pollution talk in the outside seating area at 12.30pm. This talk will be given by Rubbish Paddlers which was established during lockdown to help clean up Ayrshire's waterways removing litter from the rivers by kayak.

The Community Summer Clean Up Celebration – The STORM Walk – will take place at 12noon on Saturday, October 2.

Meeting at the Coastwatch Scotland Unit on Irvine Beach Park, everyone will meet and walk with the giant, ten metre tall puppet STORM, a sea goddess created entirely of recycled and natural material by Vision Mechanics.

All events are also part of the national Climate Fringe Week (18 – 26 September), which celebrates and supports all the ways in which everyone can engage in caring for the environment.

Nicola Scott, Exhibitions and Events Officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum said: “We’re thrilled to join with Irvine Clean Up Crew to help get the Harbourside and waterways shipshape for everyone to enjoy. As well as getting heaps of satisfaction from making a difference to our environment, it will be a great opportunity to meet other people living nearby and have some fun.

“The arrival of the towering STORM will also be a fantastic recognition of everyone’s work and represent all the rubbish we’ve cleaned up over the summer! Walking together with STORM, from Irvine Beach to the Scottish Maritime Museum, everyone can then also help raise awareness about ocean plastic pollution.

“We’re looking forward to the moment STORM meets our resident basking shark too! The life size, seven metre long basking shark was created from discarded fishing industry litter by Justin Vibert Wilson for the Giving Nature a Home project in the run up to COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this November.

“The Community Summer Clean Up events and Celebration are going to be great fun so everyone should get along to one if not all events!”

For updates on the Community Summer Clean up events and celebration visit www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org or follow the Scottish Maritime Museum’s social media.