At the very heart of Celebrate Cuckmere Haven is the campaign to rebuild the sea defences in front of the coastguard cottages, and to save those much-loved buildings from disappearing forever. Not only are they an integral part of the world-famous view of the Seven Sisters cliffs but they hold within them so much of the history of Cuckmere Haven. The significance of the cottages in the story of our community must not be underestimated and we are determined to keep them safe for future generations.

Wanting to raise awareness of the threat to the cottages and the work being done to protect them, we decided to invite members of Seaford’s Mercread Youth Centre to participate in the exhibition and in doing so, connected with Youth Leader, Chrissie Baldwin. An accomplished photographer and filmmaker, and a passionate advocate for the benefits of engaging with the natural environment, particularly the ocean, Chrissie proposed a photography project based around Cuckmere Haven.

“My thinking was to get young people to explore the idea around “awe-inspiring moments, creating prosocial behaviour… the scientific proof that experiencing awe leads to much more compassionate acts” (Lizzie Larbalestier: Blue Health Coach & Blue Mind Advocate*). “In a change from the often negative perspective of addressing climate change I wanted to instead invite the young people to find their own “awe-inspiring” photography perspectives that will in turn invite the viewer to want to connect with the Cuckmere Haven space, and to be inspired to take active care of it.”

Chrissie assembled a group of young people, ranging in age from eleven to fifteen, and on a series of trips to the area, encouraged them to explore differing visual perspectives, and build their own portfolio of images. Through this exercise, Chrissie was also able to offer some “blue mind” insights to the group, providing that beneficial physiological connection between us and the ocean.

The result is a wonderful selection of images taken by the group - each member selected their own favourite shot - printed on canvas and to be displayed at the Celebrate Cuckmere Haven exhibition in September. We hope our visitors will take the time to view this project and appreciate the work of the youth group, and perhaps be inspired to capture their own “awe-inspiring moments” and connect with our precious environment.

* Blue Mind Advocate: Inspiring communities to access and protect healthy wild water as a free health resource. Sharing the neuroscience, positive-environmental psychology and philosophy of our human connection with water. Enabling marine conservation and ocean activism causes to communicate their message authentically to facilitate engagement and action.