About Us

We are a second-generation family run small business located in the coastal town of Selsey, West Sussex. The company did not start as a Community Interest Company (C.I.C) but has evolved and developed over the last 18 years. We wanted to take a little time to explain who we are, what we do and what being a C.I.C means to us. If you are not familiar with the area Selsey, located eight miles south of Chichester, offers a very different feel to the beautiful cathedral city. We are one side of the Manhood Peninsula with shingle beaches located close to the Selsey Bill and Hounds Marine Conservation Zone, which is blessed with an amazing biodiversity of life and stunning natural features like the Hounds and Mixon Hole and makes up part of the Sussex Bay.

Selsey was chosen because of the richness of the location for the business Mulberry Divers started by my parents Linda and Steve.  The heritage of Mulberry Divers was rooted in their passion - SCUBA Diving. We offered training courses, excursions, retail and boat services. I joined the business in the early days to assist with the centre and fell in love with the ocean. Over the years we added in Snorkelling, Freediving, Mermaiding and most recently a SWIM School to our water activities and developed our programme in Marine Ecology Education as part of our SSI Blue Oceans pledge.  The business focus became about helping people experience the water in a way that suits them so in early 2021 we became Mulberry Marine Experiences to reflect our wider offering. 

From the first there has been a sense of privilege to be in the Marine Environment which has grown to a passion to share it with as many people as possible, using education to help them engage to help improve their understanding and connection to the oceans. Doing the right thing for the community and the environment is central to all our decisions, taking our Blue Oceans pledge seriously.  

What does that mean and how does it work into our everyday practices as a business? There is a philosophy that we adopt that can be summed up in the following points;

• We take every step we can to minimise our impact, these steps include small group sizes, teaching responsibility for the environment on all our courses, and working with charities and groups to support their work like CHASM, Sharks Trust, Sussex Dolphin Project and Sussex Wildlife Trust. 

• We make conscious choices to work with local suppliers and businesses that share our ethos to help reduce overall carbon footprint and keep money in the local economy. We are very proud that our Mermaid Tails are not imported but made by a local seamstress - in fact our Mahina fins are even recycled rather than imported.  

• We use Energy Responsibly and minimize our waste, researching our suppliers to ensure wherever possible we select those using packing responsibly, like Mares, recycling everything that we can even if we must be creative - our containers for beach clean are recycled from old fishing crates!

• We collect Ocean Waste, lost nets and debris, including fishing line, weights, hooks and even the occasional half a fishing rod. Since 2006 we have organised and run beach cleans both on land and in the water. We survey and record what we remove amounting to tons of rubbish. Over the years we have removed TV screens, sundials, bicycles and millions of nurdles!!! 

• We Do Not Feed, Touch or Harass any Underwater Life with a strict policy of look but do not touch on all our events and activities. We encourage the use of cameras to take memories home and run events on rock pooling and crabbing to show how to still enjoy the marine life without touching or stressing it. 

• We Monitor our Sites in the local area running free citizen science events to support our marine life like Shoresearch, as a partner to Sussex Wildlife Trust. No experience is needed, and all are welcome. If you prefer to help in water we organise snorkelling, freediving and diving for Seaseach recording and monitoring and egg case recording for UK skates, sharks and rays. Working to build video surveys of the local Sussex area. All kelp on land and in water is photographed and recorded. 

• We believe in Advocacy via Education offering Marine Life Walks to introduce you to some of the amazing life we have here. They have been mentioned in The Guardian best top ten things to do on the UK coast and featured in The Telegraph.

• We run sponsored school clubs, providing over 150 certifications to children, who want to learn about the Marine Environment and UK sea. During 2023 we started our Sponsored Summer School Programme offering over 100 places to local children, with 19 completing the SSI Snorkel Diver Course. 

• We support home education groups and students, with informal and formal learning. In September 2023 we are running an IGCSE in Marine Science, offer talks, presentation and activities at educational rates for home education groups. We take the rock pool and other sensory experiences on the road to people who are not able to come to the sea.

• We offer all our SSI Ecology Course with unique UK content to help you discover the incredible marine life that can be found around the UK coastline. 

In January 2023 we became a C.I.C to enable us to expand on the work we are already doing. Having tested the Summer School model, we working in 2024 to establish Selsey’s first Active Junior Marine Ecology club, offering certification and activities. 

This is the beginning of the next part of our journey and none of it is possible without you. We hope that you choose to join us on a paid experience, free event or a volunteer.  We are always happy to talk about our passion and just love sharing it with you. Whether you choose to train, play or explore we are here to help you experience the wonders of the Sussex Coast.

 

Thank you for reading.