RIVER campaigners from across the district will be taking part in the launch of a new Alcester-based voluntary organisation aiming to clean up local waterways.
This Saturday (November 8) will see speakers from Stratford and Pershore, joined by Stratford MP Manuela Perteghella and district councillor Susan Juned (Alcester East) for the launch of River Arrow & Alne Revival (RAAR), a new community interest company founded by Ellie Cooke.
The public is invited to join the event at the Eric Payne Community Centre from 2.30pm to 4.30pm to hear talks, participate in discussions and find out how they can help make the two rivers that flow through the town healthier and more biodiverse.
Among the guest speakers are Ed Noyes, conservation officer from the Wild Trout Trust, Dr Geoff Sallis, founder of the SafeAvon Network that works to stop sewage spills in the Warwickshire Avon, Pershore’s Michael Chapman-Pincher, founder of the Sister Rivers Initiative, and anthropologist, Dr Mary Manandhar, founder of River Hope, which is focused on the rivers Avon, Arrow and Stour in south Warwickshire.
RAAR joins the growing community action groups that are forming across the country to protect rivers from raw sewage discharges, chemical pollution, drought, flooding and habitat loss.
Mum of two, Ellie, who lives in Alcester, founded RAAR CIC in September after working with volunteers to remove Himalayan balsam from the Arrow at Gunnings Bridge in the centre of Alcester.
Himalayan balsam, which is classed as a non-native invasive plant species, contributes to biodiversity loss as it crowds out native species, riverbank erosion and flooding.
She told the Standard: “The rivers Arrow and Alne shape and connect our communities.
“We’re coming together to turn care into action – to fight for their health, to celebrate them, and to remember the joy and meaning they bring to us all.”
RAAR has been supported by a £750 Community Climate Change and Nature Recovery Grant from Stratford District Council, which it received via Alcester Town Council.
Ellie is currently recruiting volunteers to help with its mission in a variety of ways.
These include practical river work, arts and community projects, wellbeing sessions, education, fundraising, finance and communications.
Visit https://www.tickettailor.com/events/riverarrowalnerevival/1904145 to register for this free event, which includes refreshments.
For more information or to volunteer, email Ellie at [email protected].
