Little boy spends his fifth birthday picking up rubbish at Seaburn beach

Claire Foster, 34 from Penshaw has revealed how her five-year-old son Charlie spent the morning of his fifth birthday setting an example to others.

Charlie and his mum visited Seaburn beach at 6am this morning (Tuesday, June 2) picking up rubbish as he wanted to save the sea turtles.

Claire explained to the Echo where Charlie got the idea from.

She said: “Charlie loves wildlife and in particular sea turtles at the moment.

“He is having a sea life themed birthday and he wanted to go the to the beach to save the turtles by picking up rubbish.

“We were there at 6am, he hadn’t even opened a birthday present beforehand.”

The pair received positive feedback from members of the public and Claire hopes that it will spread a message to others.

She added: “We managed to fill a whole bin liner as we walked along the beach.

“Suddenly we all are allowed out and we just start damaging the environment again.

“Joggers and people walking their dogs stopped us to say thanks, everyone was really positive about it.

“I’m so proud of him, I can’t believe that it takes a five-year-old boy to show people how to look after our planet.

Charlie’s efforts follow Sunderland Council posting a series of tweets on Saturday, May 30 about the amount of litter being left on the city’s beaches.

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