A group of Shiplake pupils, parents and staff volunteered to take part in a post-Henley Royal Regatta River-Up operation on Monday 3 July. This is the second-year that we have partnered with Henley Royal Regatta and local environmentalist Lynne Lambourne from Warriors on Waste. With paddleboards provided by Go with the Flo, the volunteers were also joined by HRR Steward and Olympic medallist Greg Searle.
They had to work hard to find any rubbish, some of which had been in that water (or trapped in the reeds) for longer than a week, so not at as a result of HRR itself. However the collection boxes were still relatively full, containing water bottles, pieces of plastic and even a shoe and a discarded party hat.
After the paddleboarders returned to dry-land they enjoyed refreshments and also had a talk from Ally Mitchell from the company Ocean Plastic Pots. Ally is a commercial deep sea diver and has experienced first hand the detrimental impact plastic waste is having on our oceans and marine life. He spoke about the emergency salvage operation that took place near the Isle of Skye when a ship carrying palletised refuse (shredded plastic) hit rocks and spilled its contents into the water and he talked of the whale that washed up on a beach on the Isle of Harris that had 100kg of rope, fishing net and plastic debris inside of it. His experience led him to found Ocean Plastic Pots which is using the plastic from the ocean and reusing it to make garden pots. Ally thanked the volunteers for helping reduce the plastic in the rivers, which all lead to the oceans.
Thank you to the following volunteers for their help:
- Albie Ball
- Felix Collar
- Ethan Dickinson
- Indigo Doherty
- Ollie Griffin
- Elliot Jones
- S Laing
- Ben Loggie
- Joe Morgan
- Wilbur O'Callaghan
- Ollie Perkins
- William Smith
- Rory Stewart
- F Teague
- Isaac Walmsley
- Harrison Webb
- Mrs Emma Griffin
- Mrs Gemma Morgan
- Mrs Catherine Fox
- Mr Paul Jones
- Mr Nick Brown
- Mrs Katherine Green
- Mr Jack Burrows
- Mr James Batchelor
The clean-up drew the attention of local and national media, with ITV Meridian News featuring the event on their evening news round-up (see clip below).
Henley Standard: River Clean-Up After Regatta
Henley Herald: Regatta River Clean-Up Sees Less Rubbish This Year
The Times: Dishing the Dirt on Henley Pollution
National World: Winners Celebrated in Sewage-Infested Water As Thames Water Fined £3 Million
