Thames21: River Thames and waterways in Greater London (UK)

Thames21 aims to improve London’s waterways for people and wildlife, using a volunteer force of over 9000 to ‘clean and green’ the capital’s 400 mile network of waterways. It also runs focused campaigns on particular stretches of waterways or ponds/lakes. A major campaign in 2012 was the Big Waterways Clean-up 2012, in preparation for the London Olympics.

Facts

Place / Location Sub-national
Commencement Date Unspecified, > 10 years
Duration Ongoing
Theme Awareness, Mitigation, Prevention
Type of Initiative Practice/ Activity/ Action, Campaign
Initiated by Thames 21 (NGO)
Involved Stakeholders Keep Britian Tidy, Port of London Authority, the Environment Agency (= Government Agency), Thames Water (water company), British Waterways, Corporation of London, and 19 local authorities.
Funding/Financial Support An independent charity, funded by a wide variety of charitable trusts, companies and public funding.
Success Rate Very successful. Thames21 engages a growing number of volunteers in waterway improvement activities across London every year. In the past year alone, 9337 volunteers took part in 366 events, giving up at least 19,552 hours of their time to improve our waterways, helping remove 799 cubic metres of litter and debris.
Case Study prepared by Debbie Leach, Thames21 Chief Executive
Walbrook Wharf
C/O City of London Corporation
78-83 Upper Thames Street
London EC4R 3TD
Submitted by Peter Kershaw, Cefas

Available documentation and further information

www.thames21.org.uk