CommUNITY Barnet Clears Up with Thames 21

Thames 21 is one of the country’s leading waterway charities that work with communities across Greater London to improve our rivers, canals, ponds and lakes for people and wildlife. They mobilise over thousands of volunteers every year to clean and green the capital’s 400 mile network of waterways. Thames21 aims to transform neglected waterways into areas that everyone can use and enjoy with innovative and tailored community approaches.

Thames 21 works hand-in-hand with local communities to improve and maintain our waterways by engaging people of all ages, abilities and from all parts of society in their local waterways; removing litter; creating new habitats for wildlife, flora and fauna; controlling non-native invasive species; introducing reed beds to tackle pollutants; etc.

On Thursday 30th July 2015, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Thames 21 held an event at the North end of Montrose Playing Fields in Edgware as part of a Family Fun Day, attended by some very eager CommUNITY Barnet volunteers. Thames 21 aimed to promote their services to the public, in addition to assigning volunteers with a challenging river clearing task, which they accomplished with a high level of confidence and enthusiasm. They delivered an impressive performance as they demonstrated excellent teamwork and made a huge difference; they found it to be an intriguing and rewarding experience. They were given an introduction on Health and Safety prior to embarking on the task of clearing the rivers of wastage to improve the environment; volunteers were provided with wellingtons and gloves for protection while working in the waters.

There was the exciting opportunity to assist with advertising Thames 21, as stated above, at the stall that had been set up earlier to display a variety of leaflets and useful information for the public. Moreover, a number of fun activities had been provided for children, such as a Treasure hunt, games, arts and crafts, see-and-know roadshow, and story-telling. The event managed to attract some interest with people passing by on their visit to the park. Thames 21 intended to gain new volunteers to expand their team, boost the charity’s reputation and to ensure its success.

Volunteers, who had participated in the river clearing task, were asked to complete a form at the end of the day, leaving their contact details and areas of interest for future events that they wished to be informed about.

Julia Makin, Development Officer of Thames 21, quoted the following: “I was really pleased with the representation of volunteers and their help with the event. The decision to do a practical clean-up was volunteer led and enthusiastically delivered. It seemed to me that the volunteers enjoyed the experience and that it was something new for them – especially getting into the river. For those members of the public who came and engaged with us, it was an encouraging scene, seeing people prepared to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in. The volunteers seemed comfortable with the leadership they received and were responsible and careful in their behaviour. I would happily welcome any of them to future events in the area – and beyond if it were feasible.”

John Gribbon, CommUNITY Barnet volunteer and former Timebank Officer, shared his own input on the event: “The day was really well organised by Thames 21, and all the volunteers and myself had a fantastic time. It was fantastic for volunteers to get stuck in and try something new, as it’s not every day you get the opportunity to get into a river and pull out all different types of objects from your general rubbish items, such as plastic bottles, crisps packets, to many different types of clothing to even old road signs. We hope to do another event with Thames 21 again in the future.”

Photos from the above event can be seen at Thames 21 Event July 2015.

If you would like further information on Thames 21 and are keen to get involved in their forthcoming events to help make a difference, please visit their website at http://www.thames21.org.uk/. They look forward to hearing from you.