News
**CHANGE OF DATE** MARCH FOR CLEAN WATER NOW SUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBER
Due to a recently announced protest scheduled to take place in Central London on October 26th, the March for Clean Water will now be taking place on Sunday 3rd November.
Chair and Founder of River Action Charles Watson said, “Thousands of people and more than 90 charities, organisations and community groups have pledged their support to the family-friendly March for Clean Water. It promises to be a positive, loud and colourful demonstration of the public’s outrage at the dire state of the UK’s polluted rivers, seas and lakes. Join us on the streets of London on Sunday 3rd November to send a clear message to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that the people of Great Britain will no longer tolerate the manner in which the making of dirty money has been allowed by the government to be prioritised at the expense of clean water.”
Melissa Green, CEO of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes said: “The Women’s Institute proudly stands with the March for Clean Water, and WI members will be travelling from across the country to join forces on Sunday 3rd November.
“We invite all our members who want to see decisive action to resolve the water crisis once and for all, to march alongside us. While we’re encouraged by the government’s response to our calls for a comprehensive review of the water system, we must ensure this opportunity is not wasted. Now is the time for bold, urgent action to deliver lasting solutions.”
Patrick Begg, Outdoors & Natural Resources Director at the National Trust said: “We are disappointed that the date of the march was forced to change, but remain fully supportive of this march which is now on Sunday 3rd November.
“Water is our most precious commodity, and we play fast and loose with it at our peril. Yet only 14 percent of rivers across England are in good ecological health, and severe droughts and floods have become more commonplace. Urgent action is needed.
“We urge the government to adopt a comprehensive source-to-sea water management strategy. This includes tackling pollution at its origin, whether from agriculture, industry or from sewage outflows. But is also means restoring peat bogs, creating more space for water in our landscapes, and reducing water waste – without which we won’t succeed in making our rivers healthier for both nature and people, or resilient in the face of a changing climate.”
Becky Malby, from the Ilkley Clean River Group, said, “At the March for Clean Water on 3rd November river users from across the nation will rally and send a unified message to the government of Sir Keir Starmer – we demand that you enforce existing environmental laws and prosecute the polluters responsible for the disgusting state of the UK’s rivers, seas and lakes.”
March for Clean Water, Central London on Sunday 3rd November
Thousands of people dismayed at the appalling state of Britain’s waterways will join the March for Clean Water in London on Sunday 3rd November. Groups as diverse as British Rowing, Extinction Rebellion, the National Trust and the Women’s Institute have backed the march.
Together they will send a clear message to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: take immediate and decisive action to end the poisoning of our rivers, lakes and seas by the lethal cocktail of raw sewage, agricultural waste and other chemical pollutants, that over recent years have been allowed to leave most of our waterways so filthy that they present major risks to human health and untold damage to nature.
Visit: marchforcleanwater.org
ENDS
Notes to editors
The March for Clean Water is on Sunday 3rd November. It will be a legal, peaceful, family-friendly and inclusive demonstration. Timings will be confirmed in the run up to the event.
River Action is an environmental charity on a mission to rescue Britain’s rivers from the deluge of pollution that has left the majority of our waterways in a severely degraded ecological condition. Our campaigns to date have focussed on tackling the severe environmental crises created by both sewage and agricultural pollution.
