A GIANT whale for this year’s Kendal Torchlight Carnival is being constructed using litter picked up from a Cumbrian beach.

The event attracts thousands of people to the South Lakeland town each year, offering stalls, entertainment and a procession through the streets.

A series of creative workshops is being held at the Westmorland Shopping Centre, Kendal, this summer to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean and to construct a whale-shaped sculpture with an assortment of sea creatures for the procession.

The materials for the workshops were gathered by a team of hardy volunteers during a beach litter pick at Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness. In all, they gathered more than 40 bags of rubbish, and even had a visit from some inquisitive seals. South Lakeland District Council also provided some bottles collected from recycling.

Lana Grindley, of Love Art Workshops, which is running the sessions in conjunction with Kendal Torchlight Carnival, said: “The litter pick idea seemed to fit really well - to source materials from the ocean litter we are trying to raise awareness of. When the seals came to watch it was very moving.”

The Gazette has been drawing special attention to various groups which have been doing clean-up work in light of its own ‘The Big Clean’ campaign; being run in conjunction with The Mail. The campaign calls on people to help clear up any litter-strewn patches of land in south Cumbria, Eden and north Lancashire.

The free-to-attend, all-age workshops are being held at Westmorland Shopping Centre every Wednesday and Friday from 11am to 3pm throughout August.

This year’s Kendal Torchlight Carnival is on September 27 and 28.