Each month, we highlight a charity that is working to make our communities better. With Earth Day this month, we talked to Thames21, who aim to improve people’s quality of life by enhancing London’s waterway environments. From removing litter and non-native species to promoting safe and equal access for all, Thames21 works with communities to improve the health not just of our iconic river but of canals, rivers, streams, and even ponds across the capital. We asked about their ongoing efforts to clean and green our waterways.
Tell us about Thames21.
Thames21 is the voice for London’s waterways. We work hand in hand with communities to improve rivers, canals and ponds for social and environmental benefit through practical, educational and awareness-raising projects. Our army of volunteers enhance, protect and fight for the capital’s wide network of waterways, which provide vital habitat for wildlife and much needed green space in one of the most densely populated areas in Europe.
What are your funding sources?
We are solely dependent on securing grants which is the only way we can carry out our activities and further our projects and programmes. We seek to raise funds from both private and public funding sources.
What are some of the challenges for London’s waterways?
An ongoing challenge for Thames21 is to engage with local communities and get them involved in their local waterways. Thames21 is trying to bring about a change of behaviour in order to make people think twice before they dispose of, for example, cotton bud sticks or plastic bottles the wrong way. (The correct way to dispose of cotton/ear buds is to bin them; no recycling and no flushing—the only way is the bin. Apart from being an eyesore, plastic bottles, just like any other plastic materials, will degrade over time, thus releasing toxics into the environment. This is obviously bad for wildlife as well as for the general biodiversity, so recycling is crucial.)
We are constantly trying to lower the barriers between local communities and their waterways as it’s vital that we have the support of these communities if we are to protect the capital’s waterways from the many threats they still face.
Do you hold fundraising events throughout the year?
We do not as such currently hold fundraising events but it is something we are looking into and a field we would like to explore more. Also we are in the process of launching our very first crowdfunding project. In the meantime, a person inspired by our great river has resolved to walk all 184 miles of its length this June—from the source down to the Thames Barrier—raising money for Thames21 on his JustGiving page.
How can people get involved?
Thames21 offer a wide range of opportunities for getting involved. We hold more than 500 free open community events every year. Upcoming events in west London include a cleanup and data collection for Thames River Watch at Strand on the Green on the 10th of April, where kids are very welcome, and a two-day training in Fulham on the 12th and the 25th, ‘Leading a Waterway Cleanup’, where individuals and groups wanting to lead their own waterway cleanup events get all the knowledge they need. See our calendar and our events listings for more events and regular updates.
On top of that, we are part of festivals like Totally Thames and bigger events like TideFest—happening this year on the 20th of September, with loads of fun activities from paddle boarding to river dipping. [WLM will keep you posted as the event approaches!]
Many of our events are family and child friendly and no training is needed to participate. Further we provide all the necessary gear for the various activities. To find out more about how to get involved with Thames21 please visit www.thames21.org.uk.
