Tidy Towns Has Made Leaps and Bounds, Restoring an Entire Coastal Town

Photo Credit: Pexels

The Tidy Towns initiative on the South Coast has grown leaps and bounds since it was founded, with the community of active citizens growing from 4000 to 17,000.

South Coast, South Africa (15 August 2023) – The South Coast community stepped up to help with the care of their beaches last year by replacing the paving and pathways, cleaning the beaches and grassy areas, and replacing the wooden poles to keep people off the dunes. Since taking on the Tidy Towns initiative, towns like Shelly Beach and Margate are looking pristine.

Reg Horne started the initiative, rallying a small group of people to make a change and it has been embraced by the entire community and local businesses as well.

United communities have the ability to overcome the odds because they stand together through the hard times and celebrate when times are good. The Tidy Towns initiative has become a beacon of light within the community and sees many people getting involved in uplifting the community every week. Not only is Tidy Towns inspiring its own community, but surrounding towns and cities that also want to take more of an active citizenship mentality too.

While individuals are playing a vital role in the restoration and cleanup projects, it is the local businesses that are putting their money up to make sure the towns stay tidy, and while they are at it, they are creating small pockets of employment for people in need.

Collaboration with local government has also been essential. The reality is the municipality doesn’t have enough funding and resources to keep up but by working with Tidy Towns, everything is shifting, even within the municipality. The Tidy Towns group have established a relationship with their local municipality and is working towards bettering the community together, filling in the gaps where the municipality is unable to help.

It is worth mentioning that as of 2023, six beaches in the Ray Nkonyeni municipality have since been named Blue Flag!

Since sharing the story last year, the group has grown from 4000 participants to over 17,000. That is outstanding! It goes to show how positively these active citizenship groups benefit the whole community.

Initiatives like Tidy Towns Shelly to Margate are not new, but they are always inspiring and go to show what a little bit of effort and civic duty can accomplish. If you live along the South Coast, you can join in and help via the Facebook group here.

Recently, a filmmaker joined the Tidy Towns team to share their story and show just how far they have come since launching. You can watch the short film below.