We're proud members of the Surfers Against Sewage Ocean Network.
We've both followed Surfers Against Sewage for years. Before Quieter existed, before any of this, we were just two people who lived near the coast and felt increasingly frustrated about what was happening to it. SAS were the people doing something about that frustration rather than just carrying it around. We've always admired them. We've always wanted to find a proper way to support what they do.
Starting Quieter gave us that reason. And here we are.
"When you live two minutes from the sea, pollution isn't abstract. It's the reason you don't go in on certain days."
Why it matters. And why it's personal.
There's a version of water pollution that feels distant. A news story. A statistic. Something happening to a coastline you've never visited, affecting people you've never met.
That's not the version we experience in Southbourne.
The sea is two minutes from where we're based. It's part of how we live here. Sea dipping on cold mornings. Paddle boarding when the conditions are right. Watching the water change colour through the seasons from the clifftop. The ocean isn't a holiday destination for us. It's just outside.
And when you live that close to it, you notice. You notice when you can't go in. You notice when you're checking a water quality app before you paddle board because you know a storm drain emptied overnight. You notice when the beach smells wrong. It stops being a news story. It starts being your Tuesday.
Sewage discharge into UK coastal waters is not a fringe issue. It's happening at scale, regularly, often unreported, and its consequences are felt by everyone who uses the water. Swimmers. Surfers. Children playing at the shoreline. People fishing. People who just want to walk a clean beach.
SAS have been fighting this for over thirty years. Campaigning, petitioning, measuring, lobbying, making noise where noise is needed. They're the reason water quality monitoring exists in the form it does. They're the reason those conversations are happening in parliament at all.
What joining the Ocean Network actually means.
The SAS Ocean Network is a community of businesses that have committed to actively supporting clean water. Not just putting a logo on a website. Actual membership, actual contribution, actual accountability.
Proud members
We're proud members. Our membership is funded by Quieter as a business. We're committed to supporting what SAS do for as long as we're here.
This is the start, not the whole thing.
The SAS partnership is the first of several commitments we're working towards. We're in conversations about more. We're not going to announce anything until it's real. No promises in the future tense. No commitments we can't keep.
When something is confirmed, we'll tell you. We'd rather be slow and honest than fast and vague. Watch this space.
"The outside being worth living in isn't optional for us. It's the whole point of everything we make."
One thing you can do right now.
Download the Safer Seas and Rivers Service app. It's free. It tells you in real time whether your local water is safe to swim or paddle in. It uses data from water companies and environmental agencies and it's updated regularly.
You might be surprised what you find. A lot of people who live near the coast and swim regularly have no idea what's going into the water on any given day. This app makes that visible. Visibility is how things change.
And if you want to do more, SAS are always looking for people. Volunteers, campaigners, ocean activists. The link is below.