Thames21

We went on a lovely walk around the River Ching in Chingford yesterday. Philippa Nicholls and Jack Beard, from Thames21’s evidence team, joined members of the Ching Action Group to identify potential monitoring sites for water quality. In the video, they explain the importance of citizen science to gather information and understand pollution issues affecting our rivers and how volunteers can get involved in these programs and apply for grants through EMPOWER Rivers. EMPOWER Rivers is a Thames21 project funded by the Lund Trust aiming to enable communities to take action for their local rivers through small grants and deliver large river restoration schemes in London over the next five years. River action groups and citizen scientists interested in participating in the first round can apply until the 30th of September (there will be more opportunities to take part later in the year). It’s a great opportunity to get tools such as Hanna Checkers, and even funding for riverfly monitoring training. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eJP9qpNM

Celebration time! Thames21 turns 20 this year and we have many achievements to celebrate and share with our great team of volunteers. We're organising a ceremony on Thursday 5th September to present our Annual Volunteer Celebration and commemorate our 20th birthday. The Celia Hensman River Leader of the Year Award honours a volunteer who has shown exceptional dedication, inspired others, overcome personal odds, and/or achieved significant change. We also have three new award categories to recognise the fantastic work you, our volunteers, have done over the past year. Please click link here https://lnkd.in/gqxmmQA6 to read more about the awards and make your nominations. You can also RSVP through the link here: https://lnkd.in/gEAERNqw Please submit your award nominations and RSVP by 5pm on Monday 15th July. We hope to see you there!

London will need to urgently become a ‘sponge city’ – a city better designed to absorb and hold rainwater – in order to ward off the negative impacts of the climate emergency. Rain gardens and wetlands can capture and retain heavy rainfall brought on by the climate emergency. This means drains will take less of the onslaught and this also means that these green spaces will be able to slow the flow of water going to our rivers. Thames21’s Liz Gyekye recently went on London Live to discuss this issue. Thames21 has been working with partners and volunteers to make London a sponge city. It has created wetlands, planted trees and supported sustainable drainage systems across London to help improve biodiversity and capture rainwater to reduce flood risks. For instance, its ‘Rewilding the Rom’ project in Dagenham has seen the development of a wetland that connected the River Rom to its floodplain and turned this river into a healthy environment for wildlife. Read more about this project here: https://lnkd.in/eaB4HVMU

It’s safe to say that the 2024 edition of #LondonRiversWeek was the most amazing celebration of London’s rivers and communities to date! Around 60 celebratory, educational, and vibrant community events chimed perfectly with this year’s theme of ‘London is a river city’. Watch this space for the final impacts. However, in the meantime, we wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the funders whose support helped this year’s #LondonRiversWeek to go above and beyond expectations: Thank you Bupa Foundation UK! Thank you Lund Trust! Thank you The Fishmongers' Company! Thank you Pacific Life Re 💚💙

So many types of pollution interrelate - tackle one & you make in roads into another. Here, we've filtered the Watershed Pollution Map to show the strong overlap of high risk road runoff outfalls with poor river health & air pollution. The sheer scale of pollution can seem impossible to tackle - we hope identifying these overlaps will make the task more manageable & efficient. You can use the map to examine connections between all sorts of pollution issues via 👇 https://bit.ly/3KYLXro Thames21 Dr Sophie Scutt Dave Wallace Johana Sanabria Paul Shaffer Niki Roach James Hubbard Will Oliver #roadrunoff #airpollution #riverhealth

Great article by New Civil Engineer's Tom Pashby. Great to see our very own John Bryden featured in the piece. M25 runoff ponds possibly full of hazardous waste due to National Highways ‘avoiding liabilities’ https://lnkd.in/ecAyKk8C

NEW! The Watershed Pollution Map has been updated to include the new MPs, parties and constituencies. As well as sewage, forever chemicals, road run-off, landfills, intensive farming and so much more. Find out what's in your water. Explore the map here: https://bit.ly/4blhWNa

The country has spoken. A new Labour government has been elected at a time when public concern about river pollution has soared. Only 14% of rivers in England have a good ecological status and none have a good chemical status. Water quality and the health of our rivers must improve. We must see ambitious action. We will reiterate that we want clean, healthy rivers for people and for wildlife. Agriculture, sewage pollution, plastic pollution, chemical pollution and road runoff pollution are the main sources of pollution affecting our water bodies. The government needs to drive strong enforcement so that polluters are made to pay. It needs to also prioritise the use of catchment and nature-based solutions. All in all, river stakeholders need to work collaboratively and not in silos. Water companies must increase their investment in sewerage infrastructure to stop sewage spills and create healthy rivers. Water companies, regulators, businesses, the government and communities must protect the River Thames and its tributaries. This new government must prioritise rivers. Water is life!

Game-changing. Passionate. Authentic. Phenomenal. These are just some of the words we would use to describe our incredible 3-year #corporatepartnership with Octopus. A true partnership, where both organisations have learned from each other, challenged each other, and grown together, for the better. From #unrestrictedfunding to unrestricted support, from 1,000s of staff throwing themselves into hands-on #corporatevolunteering with glee and grit to enthusiastically providing us with over 30 types of expertise through #professionalvolunteering, we have been blown away by the impacts this has had on Thames21. This partnership has directly supported Thames21 to build its financial and operational resilience, its exceptional team, and its determination to be bolder and more brilliant for the benefit of water, nature and people. From all the Thames21 Team - present and future - THANK YOU Octopus!! You have been a truly amazing partner. 💚💙💚💙 Wishing you every success with your two new #charitypartners! 🎉

There’s only two days to go until the general election. We won't tell you who to vote for, but we will tell you that the next government must prioritise rivers. We want clean, healthy rivers for people and for wildlife. Water companies, regulators, businesses, the government and communities must protect the River Thames and its tributaries. Unfortunately, our rivers are currently far from thriving. They are being battered by sewage pollution, plastic pollution and chemical pollution. We need the next gov't to step up and tackle these issues. #voteforrivers