A GOGINAN woman has illustrated the power of social media after she found “within four minutes” the sender of a message in a bottle which washed up on a beach near Aberystwyth.

Sara McAleese, a midwife and voluntary beach cleaner, was picking up plastics at Wallog Beach, which lies between Clarach and Borth, when she stumbled upon a bottle which contained a piece of paper.

“I always pick up plastic on the beach, and I picked this bottle up and noticed it had a piece of paper in it,” explained Sara, who is originally from Somerset.

“After I read this piece of paper, I could just about make out it said Arklow on it.

“The message read: ‘Hi, I’m Olivia. I’m nine. I put this in the sea today at Brittas Beach. If you find this, please write to me at this address...’

“My partner races in the Celtic Challenge, so I am familiar with the town.”

After returning home with the note, Sara posted on the ‘Lost at Sea’ Facebook page, which is an online community of people who report cargo spills, container losses, and marine debris globally, asking if anyone knew who sent the note.

“Within four minutes, this bloke messaged me and said it was his cousin who sent the bottle,” added Sara.

“I thought ‘surely that’s not possible’. But I messaged her dad and he said it was his nine-year-old daughter who sent it about five weeks ago, and that she was outrageously excited.

“I have sent her the letter back, with a few pieces from Aberystwyth including a picture postcard."

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