By Sharon Thompson, Senior Marine Policy Officer

Today, the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, the Marine Conservation Society and WWF are delivering staggering 350,000+ pledges to the Prime Minister.

These pledges are signed by you ... and you ... and you!  This is the “Big Society” well and truly saying – we want urgent designation of marine protected areas to better protect the marine wildlife around England, including the important areas of the sea used by seabirds.

During my time working for the RSPB, I’ve seen a number of submissions of pledges, but I’ve never been the one chosen to stand on the steps of No.10 before! This is an exciting day for me and you can follow @number10today on Twitter as the day progresses. I’ll post an update on how it all went after we’ve handed the pledges through the Downing Street door.

We hope that the Prime Minister sees this massive expression of support for marine protected areas as the backing he and his Ministers need to get on with the job quickly.