Ian Woolverton

Ian leads media at River Action, with over 20 years’ experience amplifying urgent issues—from climate justice to humanitarian crises—for organisations like the UN, Red Cross, Oxfam, and Save the Children. His work in conflict zones and disaster areas earned him the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal, awarded through the Australian honours system.

Raised poor in the industrial heart of the West Midlands, Ian found escape in nature – and in supporting Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. His formative years shaped a lifelong drive to challenge systems that exploit people and the planet. Today, he lives in a riverside cottage in the same Cumbrian valley where his favourite film, Withnail and I, was filmed. From there, he campaigns to hold polluters to account and expose the damage being done to our rivers—whether hidden in remote valleys or flowing through the nation’s cities and towns.