Category: Media

A game encouraging people to walk, run and cycle between checkpoints is coming to Clacton this summer – with the town converted to a virtual playground.

Tendring District Council (TDC) has partnered with Street Tag to bring the physical activity scheme to the town as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations.

Street Tag sees a number of virtual ‘check in’ points put up around the area, with people earning points for tagging in using the app and travelling between them in a physically active way. Points can also be earned by completing online fitness classes.

With the option of teaming up – encouraging families to get involved – those at the top of the leader board win prizes, while there are also school and care home competitions, all with separate leader boards to the community challenge.

Alex Porter, TDC Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism, said he hoped the scheme would encourage families and people of all ages to get out and about.

“Street Tag is a great incentive to get out and explore your local area – at the same time as improving your physical health and mental wellbeing by being active, and of course helping the environment by ditching the car,” Councillor Porter said.

“With so much going on this summer with the Clacton 150 anniversary, and Octopus Ahoy across the district, there are so many good reasons to get out and about.”

Tags will be placed along popular walking routes and open spaces from Jaywick Sands to Holland-on-Sea. People can experience the local heritage and history of Clacton through audio, video, pictures, and text by going on Monument Tours in Augmented Reality within the Street Tag App.

Seun Oshinaike, Street Tag Founder, said: “We are excited to be forging partnerships that help families and communities get physically active in a fun, sustainable, and accessible way.”

The Clacton 150 celebrations received £250,000 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and Street Tag is one of the initiatives within the overall project.

For more information on Street Tag visit www.streettag.co.uk, and download the app on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Schools looking to get involved should e-mail meenakshi@streettag.co.uk or fill an online form at www.streettag.co.uk/schools to express their interest.

Whilst we would love to bring you a full Airshow line-up and ground event this year, unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout the planning stages this couldn’t happen.

However, this year’s event will be replaced by the Clacton 150 anniversary flights.  The Red Arrows will fly over Clacton on two days this summer to commemorate the town’s 150th anniversary. Along with the world-renowned Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the ace Royal Air Force (RAF) display team will grace the skies on August 26 and 27.

Further details will be shared in the coming weeks.

To keep updated, visit our website www.clactonairshow.com, follow Twitter @ClactonAirshow or our Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/320800229709780/?active_tab=about or for more information about the Clacton 150 commemoration events log on to www.tendringdc.gov.uk/Clacton150

Seven beaches in Tendring have been handed prestigious awards by Keep Britain Tidy – including three of the top Blue Flags.

Beaches at Brightlingsea, Dovercourt Bay, Harwich, Frinton, Walton-on-the-Naze and the town’s Albion beach, and Martello Bay in Clacton have all been given Seaside Awards in recognition of their quality.

In addition the beaches at Dovercourt Bay, Brightlingsea and Walton’s Albion beach kept their Blue Flag status, which Walton was awarded for the first time last year.

It means all Tendring seafronts have kept their accreditation from 2020.

Alex Porter, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism at Tendring District Council (TDC), said the awards were well-deserved recognition of the beauty of the area’s seafronts.

“The Essex Sunshine Coast is stunning, a brilliant asset for residents, visitors and the whole tourism industry,” Councillor Porter said.

“Recognising this is why we invest so much into them, with our Beach Patrol service in the high season, regular improvements to seafronts and promenades, or creating and protecting them with new beaches and cliff stabilisation projections.

“The awards are a great advert for the Essex Sunshine Coast, and it must be recognised that it is not easy to keep Blue Flag and Seaside Award status.

“Due to the Covid-19 restrictions we are anticipating a busy summer season – possibly the busiest ever – and these awards will boost that. We have been preparing for some time for this possible influx, and hope it will help our district get back to business.”

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “This year, more than ever, we are going to be relying on our country’s beautiful beaches to escape for a much-needed break after all the stresses and strains of the past year.

“Last year, due to the pandemic, we did not have the opportunity to celebrate all the great award-winning beaches around the coast so this year we are delighted to have even more winners than we did in 2019, thanks to the incredible work of the teams around the country that make our beaches clean and safe for us all to enjoy.

“From environmental education for the local community and ensuring responsible beach use, to cleaning regimes and an increasing number of recycling facilities, it is a full-time commitment to create beaches worthy of these awards.

“As we all plan our 2021 holidays much closer to home, thanks to the Blue Flag and Seaside Award those choosing to holiday at a destination with an award-winning beach can be assured it will be clean and safe and meet the highest standards for water quality and management.”

Clacton residents and holidaymakers past and present are being asked to share their memories as part of an anniversary project.

This year the town celebrates its 150th anniversary, and a series of events and projects to mark the occasion are being held – helped with a £250,000 grant awarded in September 2020 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund

The year 1871 is seen as the founding of modern Clacton when a group of businessmen built the Pier and Royal Hotel to spark the creation of a new holidaymaker resort, with the town officially incorporated in 1872.

Now those working on the Clacton 150 project, which is taking place in the area from Jaywick Sands to Holland-on-Sea, want to hear your memories of the town – or even family links back to the founding in 1871 – ahead of activities this summer.

Councillor Alex Porter, Tendring District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism, said: “We’re already working really closely with the Clacton and District History Society and other community groups, who are brilliantly supportive and helpful, but we also want to hear your personal stories.

“Whether it’s happy memories of going to Butlins, ice creams on the beach, watching a show on the Pier or going on the rides on the Pavilion – maybe the first ever Clacton Airshow – we want to hear your stories. And if you have pictures – or even video – then so much the better.

“Your memories don’t have to go back 150 years, we’re looking to chart the town’s history since 1871 so anything from then to more modern times is welcomed.”

Anne Jenkins, Director, Midlands and East, National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support this project which, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep.”

Information provided will be used as part of the heritage trail around the town, and could also form part of listening benches or other exhibitions.

People can share their stories and pictures by emailing clacton150@tendringdc.gov.uk or posting them for the attention of Clacton 150 to: Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton, Essex, CO15 1SE. Please include a stamped address envelope so items can be returned afterwards.

For details on how the council will hold the data supplied, visit https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/council/your-right-know/data-protection-privacy-notice-and-cookies.

Visit our Clacton 150 web page  or Clacton 150 Facebook page for further information.