As we head into autumn (sad face), many of us are clinging on to the memories of summer. With international travel still not totally back to normal, over the past few weeks millions of Brits flocked to British beaches to enjoy a Great British staycation. With the increased amounts of tourists hitting our coastline, it’s been more important than ever to keep beaches clean and do our bit to keep the coast beautiful – whether that’s picking up litter or choosing sustainable food options.

With that in mind, we took a group of press and influencers along to Plymouth Gin’s distillery – situated right in the middle of Plymouth’s harbour, the sea is at the heart of Plymouth Gin’s DNA, and protecting the coastline is a cause close to its heart. Over a whistle-stop two days we received a personal tour of the distillery by Master Distiller Sean Harrison, who held an in-depth tasting session before letting us loose to make our own gin with a mix of botanicals used in Plymouth’s recipe.

We also took part in a boat tour with the Ocean Conservation Trust, also based in the city and a charity we recently worked on for our ‘Nothing but Footprints’ news campaign, where they explained the measures they’re taking to protect the city’s coastline, before rounding off the trip getting stuck into a beach clean. All in all a successful trip explaining just how vital it is to protect our coastlines, alongside a richer knowledge on the country’s oldest working gin distillery.