Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Beaches Celebrate Continued Success with Multiple Blue Flag and Seaside Awards in 2025
15th May 2025
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Beaches Celebrate Continued Success with Multiple Blue Flag and Seaside Awards in 2025
[BOURNEMOUTH, CHRISTCHURCH & POOLE, DORSET — 15 MAY 2025] — Beaches across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have once again been recognised among the UK's very best, receiving a significant number of prestigious Blue Flag and Seaside Awards from environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy for 2025. This annual recognition underscores the area's unwavering commitment to providing visitors with world-class beach experiences.
Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has awarded the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole area 9 international Blue Flags and 10 Seaside Awards this year. This impressive count reaffirms the area's leading position, proudly holding more Blue Flags than any other UK destination – a key draw for visitors seeking quality and confidence in their beach choice.
Blue Flags are a globally recognised mark of excellence, signifying well-managed beaches with excellent water quality, strong environmental education programmes, and high safety standards. For visitors, this means choosing a beach that is clean, safe, and environmentally responsible. Seaside Awards further celebrate the quality and diversity of beaches across the UK, offering a range of experiences for all beach-goers.
The beaches receiving the coveted Blue Flag status for 2025, and standing out as top-tier destinations, include Durley Chine, Fisherman’s Walk, Sandbanks, Shore Road, Canford Cliffs, Branksome Chine, Avon Beach, Highcliffe and Friar’s Cliff. Many of these, along with other fantastic beaches across the conurbation including Bournemouth Pier, also received Seaside Awards, highlighting the breadth of high-quality options available to visitors.
Securing and maintaining these awards requires continuous investment and dedicated year-round work on seafront maintenance, safety, and environmental programmes. The funding for the award applications is made possible through the crucial support and partnership of the Destination Management Board, local businesses, and BIDs, working in conjunction with BCP Council teams who manage essential services like beach cleansing, waste disposal, and facilities. Collaboration with organisations like the RNLI ensures public safety on the water, while securing funding for coastal protection projects safeguards this vital natural asset for future generations of visitors.
These accolades are a fundamental element to the region's tourism success, attracting millions of visitors annually and significantly boosting the local economy. They provide visitors with confidence in the quality of their chosen destination. Visitors are encouraged to contribute to preserving the beauty and cleanliness of these award-winning beaches by disposing of litter responsibly and adhering to the 'Leave Only Footprints' principle, supporting the area's vision for sustainable and eco-friendly tourism and helping to keep these beaches award-winning for years to come.
Andy Lennox, Chair of the Destination Management Board, said, “These awards are a perfect example of cross organisation collaborative working. Together a powerful coalition of local business, business improvements districts and BCP Council to secure our beaches retain Blue Flag status once again. This is a testament to the collective commitment to quality, safety and environmental excellence. Having to retain these flags each year ensures that everyone one remains focused on those values”
Cllr Richard Herrett, Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure, and Commercial Operations at BCP Council, said: “We are immensely proud to have our beaches recognised, once again, as Blue Flag locations – highlighting our stunning natural surroundings. Each day our dedicated teams work around the clock to ensure our beaches meet Blue Flag standards – so that residents and visitors can enjoy the best of our coastline. We are fortunate to have such a breath-taking stretch of coastline on our doorstep and ask our visitors to help us stay award-winning by picking up their litter, leaving only footprints and protecting our environment for generations to come. I want to thank our partners as well as local businesses and organisations who have all united and worked together in order to retain our Blue Flag status for another year.”
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Notes to Editors:
The funding for the award applications has been made possible by the generous support of businesses and organisations including Bournemouth Town Centre BID, Coastal BID, FJB Hotels, Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council, Just Move In, Poole BID, Saltwater Sauna, The Beach Hut café and Rockwater, who have worked together to fund the applications which cost a total of over £10,000. A J Emery Consulting consulted on the applications.
The resorts of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are lucky to enjoy over 15 miles of golden sand and 26 miles of harbourside landscape, over 2,500 hectares of greenspace and a thriving economy.
*Some of the other awards the destination has won as well as the ‘best of’ lists it is named on, include:
- In December 2023, Crave magazine named Dorset, including Bournemouth Beach and Sandbanks in Poole, on their list of The Best UK Destinations for a Family Getaway
Blue Flag awards
Blue Flag is an international award managed by Keep Britain Tidy in the UK on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education.
It is only presented to well-managed beaches with water quality defined as ‘excellent’ under the EU Bathing Water Directive, while Seaside Awards are presented to the best beaches in England.
Among the criteria beaches are assessed against are:
- Safety and services, such as first aid, lifeguards where necessary.
- Environmental information including displaying details about local eco systems
- Water quality – Blue Flag beaches must meet the ‘excellent’ water quality standard as set out in the EU bathing water directive and Seaside Award winners must meet the 'sufficient’ standard.
- Environmental management, including litter and waste.
Blue Flag awards 2025 went to:
Seaside awards 2025:
- Bournemouth Pier
- Durley Chine Beach
- Fisherman’s Walk Beach
- Branksome Chine Beach
- Canford Cliffs Beach
- Shore Road Beach
- Sandbanks Beach
- Avon Beach
- Friar’s Cliff Beach
- Highcliffe Beach
Sandbanks celebrates having received the Blue Flag designation for a 38th year - as long as the awards have been running.
Contacts:
Andy Lennox, Chair of Destination Management Board
info@dmbdestination.co.uk / andy@fireduphospitality.co.uk
BCP Council Press Office
press.office@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
