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Month: August 2023

Introducing Tim and Ben, the dynamic Duo @teamwateruk!

Posted on by lewis

Between the 12th and 21st of September, local community groups, supporters and campaigners will be joining us along the River Thames to demand action from the government and all political leaders to urgently address river pollution. 

To raise awareness of the high levels of pollution in UK rivers, we will be cheering on Tim Wakefield and Ben Covey, who are taking to the River Thames for ten days of swimming, rowing and stand up paddle boarding (SUP). On their expedition, Tim and Ben will help raise awareness of the plight of our waterways and promote the hand-in of our ‘Rescue our Rivers’ petition to Parliament.

The end of the expedition coincides with the ‘hand in’ of our petition, signed by almost 90,000 people, backing the Charter for Rivers that calls up on political leaders to protect and restore our rivers by 2030. 

How to get involved

We would love to get as many people involved as possible and we’re really looking forward to sharing Tim and Ben’s journey. Do follow @teamwateruk for updates on when and where you can join them on the river each day. Dates include:

If you have any questions about how you can get involved, please email our Campaigns Coordinator, Harri Rose, at harri@riveractionuk.com. We hope to see many of you there soon!

About Ben Covey 

From an early age Ben has been drawn to the water and has loved exploring our coasts and rivers. As a family now living in landlocked Berkshire, the River Thames is his go to destination for a water fix. Paddleboarding, swimming, and occasionally boating too. His wife grew up on the north coast of Cornwall and he heads down there whenever he can. There the weather and tides shape the holidays, dictating the activity for the day: kitesurfing a firm favorite when it’s windy and paddleboarding & swimming when the sea is calm.  When Ben and Tim decided to journey down the Thames they wanted to partner with a charity that are dedicated to raising awareness of the disastrous impact that pollution is having on our rivers and River Action UK’s Rescue our Rivers campaign was a perfect match. Ben has a strong track record in taking on challenges to raise awareness and funds for important causes. He has cycled from John O Groats to Lands End, walked the 4 Peaks, was a member of the team that holds the Guinness World Record for the most kitesurfers in a mile and with Tim crossed the English Channel by paddleboard to raise money for the RNLI. On the Thames he has completed the Great River Race three times. He hopes that the Thames Pollution Awareness Expedition will take him to parts of the river he has not yet explored whilst making a difference to the future health of our rivers.

About Tim Wakefield 

Tim has lived within a stone’s throw of the River Thames all his life. His first memories are feeding the ducks in the river by Richmond Bridge and since then he has learned to sail on the river, enjoyed swimming in the upper reaches, once successfully eskimo rolled a canoe near Westminster, tried on many occasions to beat the world record for stone skimming, loved racing up and down the river in summer rowing regattas, tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to catch fish, jumped into the river off bridges and rope swings and most recently spent many happy hours SUPping with the swans. He is currently a member of Goring Thames Sailing Club. Like Ben, Tim has been involved in a number of expeditions to raise awareness and funds for important causes, including swimming across the Solent in support of Kingston Hospital, SUPping across the Channel in support of the RNLI and skiing up mountains with the Everest in the Alps team in support of the Brain Tumour charity. 

Drinking Water Supplies on Brink of Collapse Due to Water Company Underinvestment

Posted on by lewis

New investigative work carried out by Greenpeace Unearthed has revealed that across many regions of the UK, the security of our water supply came close to collapse during last year’s summer drought.

In order to keep water supplies flowing, a number of water companies were openly admitting that they would have no option to ride roughshod over environmental protection regulations in order to keep supplies running. – We saw Yorkshire Water actually end up implementing such a plan last year, disregarding Special Area of Conservation regulations in place on a number of rivers to keep water supplies flowing.  One of the most shocking revelations shows that to maintain water supply to no less than over 160,000 people, Southern Water’s emergency drought plans involved raiding the precious chalk aquifers of the Rivers Test and Itchen, putting the salmon population in these rivers at risk of extinction.

Worse still, the investigations found that had it not been for this summer’s recent unprecedented wet July experienced across most of the nation, we could have seen plans could have already been implemented to provide various areas of the UK (such as in South West Water’s catchment) with bottled water as a result of severe shortages of clean drinking water.

The blight on our rivers and beaches caused by the pollution spewing out of our failing sewage system has been commanding front page headlines over recent months. However, the years of under-investment in the security of our water supply is the other direct consequence of the impact of the privatisation of our water industry. Whilst shareholders were happily stripping tens of billions of pounds of dividends out of our water companies (whilst saddling them with huge debt burdens in order to double down on these obscene financial returns) not one new reservoir was built in England in the years since water privatisation. This is despite population growth of over 30% in some UK regions creating huge stress on an antiquated system, which leaks a third of its water each day due to decades of poor maintenance and negligible investment. 

Commenting in the Unearthed report River Action’s Chair and Founder Charles Watson is quoted: 


“It’s extraordinary what these documents reveal – the country dodged a bullet. It looks like the system was about to crash in some places. The situation last year also has a knock-on effect – if we had another summer like that, I think we would have been looking at a national calamity.

There has been a complete failure to invest in, and create a decent regulatory system, for what is the most essential service the public can expect. How have these companies been able to take on huge levels of debt and distribute huge dividends to shareholders to only then come within a hair’s breadth of having water supplies shut down?

The environmental consequences of some of the water companies’ plans could have been horrendous. Protected areas were in danger of being compromised and the issue with Southern Water could have had direct consequences on the salmon migration. The company was trying to take water from these precious chalk streams because they failed to invest in creating a sustainable business.”

For the full story, check out Unearthed and The Times.

Noble Foods left with its pants down after Avara Food commitments.

Posted on by lewis

ACTION AT LAST?

Last week we saw possibly the first tangible action being taken by a polluter to save the River Wye. Avara Foods, the regions largest poultry producer confirmed to it’s farming partners in the region that poultry manure from its supply chain will no longer be sold as fertiliser within the Wye catchment. This is a significant step forward in campaign to Save the Wye and is thanks to the considerable and consistent pressure put on polluting producers by local and national campaign groups, including River Action. BUT, we have questions for Avara on its plans:

Where will the manure go instead? It’s vital that we don’t simply see the pollution problem passed onto other catchments.

What will Avara do to clean up its sh*t? It’s great to see that Avara might not be contributing the the further destruction of the River Wye, but what’s it going to do to clean up the mess already caused. The Wye is on the brink of collapse and needs urgent action to undo the damage already caused.

NOBLE FOODS CAUGHT WITH ITS PANTS DOWN

And now we’ve seen an admission of guilt from the top polluter of the Wye, it leaves other large scale producers caught squarely with their pants down, continuing to defecate into one of the UK’s most loved rivers. So we’ve written to the CEO of the UK’s largest egg producer, Noble Food demanding urgent clarification of what actions it is taking to mitigate pollution emissions from its supply chain in the catchment of the River Wye.

We’ve asked Noble Foods to:

  • Clarify what comparable mitigation plan is Noble Foods implementing across its supply chain to that announced by Avara Foods and by when will this plan be implemented.
  • Explain what on-going environmental assurance standards Noble Foods will be demanding of its supply chain.
  • Publish the assessments and recommendations made by the Wye and Usk Foundation, following the statement on Noble Foods’ website that the Wye and Usk Foundation has been engaged to “assess our supply farms and put mitigation measures in place that reduce the impact of farming on the water environment such as limiting phosphate run-off”.

It is now imperative that other major poultry suppliers active in the Wye Region, starting with Noble Foods, follow Avara’s lead and clarify their own plans to end the pollution blight that their business practices have inflicted on what is one of the UK’s most iconic and ecologically important rivers.

Charles Watson, River Actions Founder and Chair says:

“Given that even the largest poultry producer in the Wye Catchment is now openly admitting to the role the intensive poultry industry has played in the severe pollution of this magnificent river, it seems extraordinary that Noble Foods (the region’s second largest poultry-based agri-business) has yet to publish any credible plan to remove its chicken litter from the Wye Catchment. Also, Noble Foods faces even greater environmental responsibilities given that, as a free-range egg producer, the need to mitigate nutrient run-off from the open ranges of its supplier farms poses an even greater environmental challenge than those faced by the broiler sheds that comprise Avara’s supply chain. Nothing but the full disclosure that we have demanded in our letter to Noble Foods will suffice”

Meet Lauren Razek, River Action’s Development Manager

Posted on by lewis

Tell us about yourself…

My name is Lauren Razek, and like my name, I am half British, half Egyptian. I grew up between the two countries, and although I’m now based in London, both the UK and Egypt are home to me – or perhaps one is home away from home, but I couldn’t tell you which..

I began a career in international development and sustainability, and while I ventured into different areas of it – urban, rural and environmental development, sustainable agriculture and ethical fashion, it was always within the realm of trying to make things better. It has always been important to me that my work is meaningful and contributes to making the world a better place, even in a small way.

Outside of work, I love stories in all forms, I am a firm supporter of all things geared towards health and wellbeing, and while I love all nature, my happy place is the sea.

You started an ethical fashion brand, can you tell us about that..

I got involved in ethical fashion when I found out about the horrors of the fashion world. I have always liked clothes and accessories, and when I realised how harmful that industry is I decided to shift to ethical consumption when it comes to fashion. Trouble is there were a lot of things I couldn’t find, so I decided to make them! The brand was called Lauren Razek and brought together social and environmental sustainability, beauty, mythology and fashion – all things I appreciate and enjoy. It was hard work, but well worth it. I have put it on pause now because the health of rivers called to me, so to speak.

How did you become interested in river protection?

I have always been drawn to water, and rivers are truly a thing of beauty. Both my countries are built around ancient rivers, and fresh water is life; without it we – and so many more life forms – would perish. And beyond that, these wonderful rivers that give us and other creatures so much, deserve our respect, appreciation and protection.

It is a crying shame that they’re in their current dire state. All of Britain’s 200,000km network of rivers are polluted, and that is simply unacceptable. The rivers in Britain are the lifeblood of the land, and I don’t believe any form of healthy life is possible without healthy rivers – physical, mental or emotional.

Given all that, I was very happy to be a part of River Action when Charles Watson approached me in 2021. When I found out about the extent of pollution in our rivers, I was horrified, and getting involved professionally in rectifying this tragic state of affairs felt like the right thing to do.

Tell us about your role

I am River Action’s Development Manager. I helped James Wallace put together our mission, five-year strategy and goals, and now I ensure our work feeds into our mission and fulfils our goals, I am responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of our work, measuring our impact and ensuring we are on track; I also raise funds to make the work possible. Like River Action itself, I don’t do on-the-ground work, but I help provide the resources and the systems that make the work possible.

In your opinion, what needs to change in order to rescue Britain’s rivers?

Priorities, mentalities and systems. It is outrageous, not to mention extremely short-sighted, that the health of our environment, and particularly our rivers, isn’t a top priority of the Government and industries. That has to change. Laws and regulations to protect our rivers must be enforced, supply chains must change, and we must all be continuously aware and actively care for the health of rivers and nature. I‘m very proud to be part of a team that is working to change those things, and given the impact we have had and the changes we can see, I am optimistic and hopeful. We have to be!

This is Sh*t!: Behind the scenes at Yamination Studios

Posted on by lewis

The amount of work that goes into one short sequence of stop-motion animation is pretty incredible. Scripts and storyboards are set, sets are built and multiple versions of the characters are crafted.  Lighting is established and cameras are put into position, just to name a few things required before the animators start animating!

Here, we feature a behind-the-scenes peek at Yamination Studios to give a glimpse into what it took to create our animation, This is Sh*t! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX9FNapR32Y