The Ullapool Sea Savers (USS) are a group of primary and secondary school-aged children with a fervent interest in protecting their local coastal environment. The founder of the group, a young girl named Caillin, kick-started a ‘save the squirrels’ campaign in her local area, Ullapool, back in 2016. With the support of Ullapool Primary School and a local conservation project, Living Seas, her campaign led to the installation of warning signs urging motorists to reduce their speed due to the presence of endangered red squirrels in the area.
In 2017, Ullapool Primary School were joined by Sunnyside Primary School in Glasgow in campaigning against the use of plastic straws, with the hashtag #NaeStrawAtAw. As a result, Ullapool became the first place in Europe to be plastic straw free. Both schools were awarded a Great Scot Award in 2018.
Since then, the Ullapool Sea Savers (USS) have been an established group of young people committed to protecting the marine environment where they live. They have generated different campaigns aimed at increasing the biodiversity of ecosystems and protecting wildlife, such as their #NoKelpDredge campaign, which you can read more about here. The group was shortlisted for a Nature of Scotland award in 2019 and recently appeared in Prince William’s documentary, A Planet for Us All, which explored global environmental challenges and where our future King pledges to make a difference.
Find out more about the USS by visiting their website: https://ullapoolseasavers.com/