During the summer holidays, Wokingham Borough Council ran a writing competition, Protect Our Broken Planet, in partnership with the Natural History Museum's new exhibition, Fixing Our Broken Planet. I chose to participate by composing a poem on my own experience of the growing issue of pollution, based on my memories of the beach we frequented most during my childhood.

That beach holds a special place in my heart. My first experience of the vastness of the ocean mesmerised me, and it continued to do so every time we returned. Our best pastime was to dip our feet in the cold sea and play with the waves.