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It was a tough challenge riding  from John O'Groats to Land's End in 9 days this June. 600 of us set out but not everybody reached the end. The sea at Lands End looked perfect and this reminded me again of the importance of keeping it that way and of my chosen charity the Marine Conservation Society.

I had decided to take on this challenge  in memory of what my parents did on environmental campaigning after Caroline caught polio in sewage polluted sea in 1957. Memories flooded back when Panorama made a new programme in September 2009 highlighting the problems that still exist and attitudes that have not changed. What follows is an extract from Caroline Mallan's Panorama report

'Astonishing legacy'

Thomas Bell of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), called the Wakefields' dedication "an astonishing legacy".

“ I think the benefit of what they did, in terms of public health, is enormous ”

"What the Wakefields did was shine a spotlight on what was happening on our beaches and to give it a public profile," he said.

"They did that by saying 'we are just private people and this is what we know can happen and we think you should know too' and their reach was remarkable."

Mr Bell said he believed their campaign was a key component - along with European legislation and gradually changing public attitudes - to pushing government and the water industry to spend a combined £20bn on sewage treatment and clean-up.

They worked tirelessly through the 1960s and 70s, and only began to see real improvement in the late 70s and into the 1980s.

"I think the benefit of what they did, in terms of public health, is enormous," he said. "They were environmental campaigners before environmental campaigning existed."

MCS is carrying on the work they started so please donate what you can.

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