UK and Ireland: local community river groups

Want to get involved with a local river restoration project… support a national group working on water pollution issues… promote your local river protection group? This is the place to do it.

Welcome to our handy list of UK river groups. Most of them are local community organizations dedicated to protecting, restoring, or celebrating their waterways; some of the national groups have wider environmental objectives, but also support local projects. We painstakingly compiled this list in 2001 from many different sources but, although we've updated it regularly ever since, there may still be quite a few out-of-date contacts on here−and quite a few missing groups too.

Can't find a group near you? Why not start your own campaign, group, or river project? Check out our beginner's guide: Adopting a river: How to get out get dirty, and make a difference.

We'd really appreciate your help in keeping this page up-to-date, so please do add details of any other groups you know about. You can add new things to this page just like you edit a page on Wikipedia. (There are instructions on how to do this here.)

Please note that inclusion in this list does not necessarily imply that a group is linked in any way with or supports the aims of the UK Rivers Network, or vice versa.

• Adopt-a-Beach (run by the Marine Conservation Society)
• The Angling Trust (Incorporating Fish Legal)
• Association of River Trusts
• Atlantic Salmon Trust
• British Canoe Union
• British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
• Canoe England
• Canoe Scotland - the Scottish Canoe Association
• Canoe Wales/Canw Cymru and Welsh Canoeing Association
• The Coracle Society
• Countryside Restoration Trust: Promotes conservation farming.
• Freshwater Action Network
• Inland Waterways Association (IWA) (mainly concerned with canals)
• Irish Whale and Dolphin Group
• Keep Britain Tidy
• Low Impact Life Onboard (LILO): Environmentally minded canal boaters.
• Marine Conservation Society (mainly concerned with coastal issues)
• National Fishing Week (annual event)
• Pond Conservation
• River and Rowing Museum Foundation, Henley, Oxon.
• River and Lake Swimming
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
• Salmon and Trout Association
• Save Our Waterways
• Surfers Against Sewage (increasingly active on inland water pollution issues)
• Wild Trout Trust (formerly the Wild Trout Society)
• The Waterway Recovery Group: Voluntary group helping to restore derelict canals.
• The Waterways Trust
• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
• The Wildlife Trusts (see below for a full list)
• The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge: “saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world”.
• WWF Freshwater Programme

We also have an interactive, clickable Google map showing the location of UK rivers groups we know about, but it's tricky to edit so we keep it on a separate page and update it from time to time from the contacts on this list. Please note that the list of groups on this page is always more up-to-date than the list on the map page.

• Cambridgeshire Fens Preservation Society, Cambridge.
• Ivel and Ouse Countryside Project, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
• Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association, Norwich, Norfolk.
• River Burn North Creake Amenities Society, Fakenham, Norfolk.
• Rivercare Project, Norwich. Covers approximately 30 projects across East Anglia.
• River Stour Trust , Sudbury, Suffolk.
• Roman River Valley Society, Colchester, Essex. (Not currently active.)
• Tidy Britain Group (East Of England), Norwich, Norfolk. (Now Encams/Keep Britain Tidy?)
• Cam Valley Forum works to protect and improve the environment of the river Cam and its tributaries in Cambridgeshire.

• Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
• River Cole And Chinn Brook Conservation Group, Birmingham.
• River Wye Preservation Trust, Herefordshire.
• Ruscombe Brook Action Group, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
• Trent Rivers Trust, based in Nottingham
• Upper Colne Support Group, Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
• Upper Thames Protection Society, Fairford, Gloucestershire.

• Calder Future, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
• River Colne Project, Huddersfield, Yorkshire.
• Cobbydale Conservation Association, Keighley, Yorkshire. [Active in the 1980s. We think this was primarily a campaign concerned with development issues and not a river group?]
• East Yorkshire Stream Protection Association, Driffield, Yorkshire.
• Eye on the Aire, Leeds. [We think this became inactive in the early 2000s?]
• River Swale Preservation Society, Middlesborough, Cleveland.
• River Wear Environmental Trust, County Durham.
• Save The Ouse System (Protection Society), Leeds

• Mersey Basin Campaign, (Based in Manchester but covering the whole Mersey Basin).
• Mersey Basin Trust, Oldham.

• Action for the River Kennet, Wiltshire/Berkshire.
• Avon & Stour Fishery Association, Ringwood, Hampshire.
• Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, Aldershot, Hampshire
• Bourne Stream Partnership, Bournemouth, Dorset. (Project completed in 2007, but still has a useful website).
• Brent River And Canal Society, London.
• Chiltern Society Rivers And Wetlands Conservation Group, Bucks.
• Colne Valley Partnership, Middlesex.
• Darenth River Preservation Society, Sevenoaks, Kent.
• Fleet Pond Society, Fleet, Hampshire.
• Friends Of The Upper Colne, St Albans, Herts.
• Itchen Hamble Countryside Project, Hampshire.
• Itchen Navigation Project, Hampshire. (Hampshire & IOW Wildlife Trust project)
• Kentish Stour Countryside Project, Ashford, Kent.
• Longford Against Pollution, Biggleswade, Beds.
• Lea Rivers Trust, London. (Closed in 2008, but web archive still retains their old website).
• Medway River Users Association, Kent.
• North Wey (Hants) Preservation Society, Alton, Hampshire.
• Quaggy Waterways Action Group, South East, London.
• Residents Against Dibden Bay Port (RADBP), Southampton, Hampshire. (Closed after campaign victory, but we understand that the campaign group still meets)
• River Beane Preservation Society, Stevenage, Herts.
• River Chess Preservation Society, Rickmansworth, Herts.
• River Ember Clean Up Group, East Molesey, Surrey.
• River Mole Preservation Association, Thames Ditton, Surrey.
• River Nailbourne Preservation Society, Canterbury, Kent.
• River Adur Conservation Society (RACS), Sussex.
• River Thames Society, London.
• River Thames User Groups, London.
• River Wey Trust, Liphook, Hampshire.
• Sussex Ouse Conservation Society (SOCS), Sussex.
• Thames 21, London.
• Thames And Medway Canal Association, Gravesend, Kent.
• Thames Angling Preservation Society, Bexley, Kent.
• Thames Explorer Trust, London.
• The Wandle Trust, London.
• Waterway Champions, London. A London-wide scheme run by Thames 21.
• Wessex Salmon and Rivers Trust, Hampshire.

• Cornwall Rivers Project
• Friends of the Fowey Estuary
• Friends of the River Frome, Frome, Somerset.
• Helford River Association, Helford, Cornwall.
• Living River, Salisbury, Wiltshire (River Avon catchment).
• Malmesbury River Valleys Trust, Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
• River Allen Association, Bridport, Dorset.
• River Avon Protection Society, Paignton, Devon.
• River Camel Protection Society, Bodmin, Cornwall.
• River Creedy Protection Society, Exeter, Devon.
• River Piddle Protection Association, Dorchester, Dorset.
• River Tarrant Protection Society, Blandford, Dorset.
• River Taw Protection Society, South Molton, Devon.
• River Wey Preservation Society, Weymouth, Dorset.
• River Wylye Preservation Society, Salisbury, Wiltshire. [Not thought to be active since at least 1990s.]
• River Yealm And District Association, Plymouth, Devon.
• River Yeo Protection Society, Barnstaple, Devon.
• Save the Avon, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
• Somerset Levels Campaign, Ilminster, Somerset.
• South Devon Rivers Riparian Owners (Protection Society), Ivybridge, Devon.
• South Wiltshire Agenda 21 Biodiversity Group, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
• St Mary Bourne Conservation Society, Andover, Hampshire.
• South West Rivers Association And North Atlantic Salmon Fund, Yelverton, Devon.
• Teigngrace Parish Council/Aqua, Newton Abbot, Devon. [Teigngrace river Teign/Bovey campaign]
• West Country Rivers Trust, Cornwall and Devon

• Coomhola Salmon Trust (and Streamscapes Project), Cork.
• Inland Waterways Association of Ireland

• River Bann And Lough Neagh Association, Armagh.

• Community of Arran Seabed Trust, Looking after the marine environment in the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Arran's marine environment.
• Falkirk District Canals Society, Tayside, Scotland.
• Friends of the River Kelvin, Glasgow.
• Galloway Fisheries Trust, southwest Scotland.
• River Dee Catchment Partnership, Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Scotland Inland Waterways Association: Site appears not to have been updated since 2002, but we believe the organization is still active.
• Solway Firth Partnership
• Tweed Foundation

• Cardiff Rivers Group
• Carmarthenshire Rivers Trust
• Wye and Usk Foundation
• River Teifi Preservation Society, Dyfed.
• There is a detailed list of over 100 Welsh river groups on the Keep Wales Tidy website.

The Wildlife Trusts are perhaps the best place to start if you want to find out about hands-on conservation in your local area. Generally, there's one trust covering each county (though some cover two or three neighbouring counties or larger areas):

• Alderney Wildlife Trust
• Avon Wildlife Trust
• Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
• Brecknock Wildlife Trust, Wales
• Cheshire Wildlife Trust
• Cornwall Wildlife Trust
• Cumbria Wildlife Trust
• Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
• Devon Wildlife Trust
• Dorset Wildlife Trust
• Durham Wildlife Trust
• Essex Wildlife Trust
• Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
• Gwent Wildlife Trust, Wales
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
• Herefordshire Nature Trust
• Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
• Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
• Kent Wildlife Trust
• Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust
• Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
• London Wildlife Trust
• Manx Wildlife Trust (Treisht Beiyn-Feie Vannan), Isle of Man
• Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, Wales
• Norfolk Wildlife Trust
• North Wales Wildlife Trust, Wales
• Northumberland Wildlife Trust
• Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
• Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, Wales
• Scottish Wildlife Trust
• Shropshire Wildlife Trust
• Somerset Wildlife Trust
• Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
• Suffolk Wildlife Trust
• Surrey Wildlife Trust
• Sussex Wildlife Trust
• Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
• Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough
• Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country
• Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside
• Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales
• Ulster Wildlife Trust, Northern Ireland
• Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
• Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
• Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
• Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Other community-based groups are also helping the environment:

• The Blue Gym: An online network that encourages people to take up water-based activities for their health and well-being and for the benefit of the environment.
• British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
• Friends of the Earth local groups: New community action website from FoE.
• Muck In4Life: Government project to encourage “fun, healthy and free environmental activities for all the family”.
• V-inspired: Volunteering made easy and fun for 16-25 year olds.
• Volunteering England: Lots of information for volunteers and those who manage them.

What can we learn from other river groups around the world? Take a look at some of the worldwide river groups on the Rivers and Streams page of the Open Directory Project.

• We're very keen to add more contacts (and especially links to websites run by local river groups), so please feel free to edit the page and fill in the gaps.
• If you know a group has closed or is inactive, please don't delete it from the list: mark it with strikethrough text and/or put a note alongside the entry. We've found in the past that it can be very helpful to know a group was active in a particular area. There may still be interested people around with useful knowledge or a base of work others can build on in future. It's vitally important we don't lose that.