It was a day of creativity, community, climate action and sandy masterpieces at Ocean Grove Main Beach on Sunday.
The ‘Protect What You Love’ Sand Sculpting Competition celebrated its second year on February 16 from 10am to noon.
Parents for Climate Geelong, Bellarine and the Surf Coast volunteer organiser Laura Billings said the day was fun and “sparked some great conversations between everyone”.
“As an older person, it definitely takes you back to your years as a kid, so we all get to be kids again in the sand,” she said.
“We had families and kids of all ages participating, and everyone really got into it. We had some unique and incredible creations come from the sand.
“The winds were pretty strong, but we still had a huge crowd of families turn up and compete. It was pretty exciting to see all the fun, laughs, conversations and the friendly competitions.”
Ms Billings said the day’s ‘Protect What You Love’ theme encouraged the community to have conversations about the environment and advocate for a safe climate.
“It’s fostering a love for our environment and creating a stewardship not only in ourselves but in our kids to really look after this incredible place we live in,” she said.
“As parents and families, our number one goal in life is to protect what we love, whether that’s our children and families or this incredible planet we call home.
“The process of people connecting to the sand and natural environment around them to create beautiful works of art while connecting to the land and nature, it’s so critical.”
By Jena Carr
