South East Rivers Trust Archives - South East Rivers Trust

Protected: BNYMellon Corporate Day

Gravel Seeding Works in Maidenbower, Crawley- River Mole

Activity Description:
The South East Rivers Trust would like your help with introducing gravels into the Stanford Brook and Gatwick Stream in Maidenbower, Crawley, both being tributaries of the River Mole. This work will be taking place throughout the week commencing 5^th August 2024.

This is the first of many activities as part of our river restoration plan for the Upper Mole, and we are inviting the local communities to join us.

The newly seeded gravel will create riverbed features, such as pools and riffles, providing improved habitat for aquatic species. This habitat is essential for aquatic plants, invertebrates and fish as it offers refuge and spawning areas.

Volunteers will be putting on a pair of waders and gloves to move gravel into the river at designated spots, using shovels and wheelbarrows. We will then spread and rake the gravel along the riverbed.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help restore your local river for the benefit of nature and to meet new people!

Please be aware that this is a very physical activity and a minimum level of fitness is required. This activity may not be suitable for anyone with back pain or other musculoskeletal injury

All tools and equipment, inc. steel toed waders and gloves will be provided.

Meeting Point: Exact points to be confirmed

Day Plan:

0930: Arrive
1000: Wader up, Introduction, Health & Safety
1015: Gravel Seeding
1130: Tea/Coffee Break (provided by SERT)
1200: Gravel Seeding
1300: Lunch (not provided)
1345: Gravel Seeding
1530: Finish

What to Bring:
– Your own gardening gloves, if you prefer (note, they will likely get wet!) and your own boots/waders, though they would have to be steel toed for safety.
– Your own lunch
– Plenty of water, flask etc
– Appropriate outdoor clothing, extra layers and waterproofs

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – please RSVP using the button below and complete the form to secure your spot.

Booking for this event will close at: 1700 on Tuesday 6th August 2024

Minimum age 16 years old. 16 and 17 year olds will need to be accompanied by an over 18 year old throughout the day.

Please email volunteering@southeastriverstrust.org to:

Find out more information,
Cancel your space if you can no longer make it.

To read our Health and Safety Guidelines for this event please click HERE.

Photos and video footage will be taken at this event and used by the Trust for promotional purposes (including but not limited to printed materials, social media, newsletters and the website) and potentially shared with our external partners and funders. From time to time, external media agencies could also take photos, film or record our events.

The Trust’s lawful basis for processing this is “Legitimate Interests” under the General Data Protection Regulations. As an individual you have rights. If you wish for SERT to stop processing this data for you, please talk to a member of staff or email info@southeastriverstrust.org.

To read our Privacy Policy and see how we use and look after the information you provide when booking your spot at our events please click HERE.

Gravel Seeding Works in Maidenbower, Crawley- River Mole

This is the first of many activities as part of our river restoration plan for the Upper Mole, and we are inviting the local communities to join us.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help restore your local river for the benefit of nature and to meet new people!

Please be aware that this is a very physical activity and a minimum level of fitness is required. This activity may not be suitable for anyone with back pain or other musculoskeletal injury

All tools and equipment, inc. steel toed waders and gloves will be provided.

Meeting Point: Exact points to be confirmed

Day Plan:

0930-1000: Arrive
1000: Wader up, Introduction, Health & Safety
1015: Gravel Seeding
1130: Tea/Coffee Break (provided by SERT)
1200: Gravel Seeding
1300: Lunch (not provided)
1345: Gravel Seeding
1530: Finish

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – please RSVP using the button below and complete the form to secure your spot.

Booking for this event will close at: 1700 on Monday 5th August 2024

Minimum age 16 years old. 16 and 17 year olds will need to be accompanied by an over 18 year old throughout the day.

Please email volunteering@southeastriverstrust.org to:

Find out more information,
Cancel your space if you can no longer make it.

To read our Health and Safety Guidelines for this event please click HERE.

To read our Privacy Policy and see how we use and look after the information you provide when booking your spot at our events please click HERE.

Gravel Seeding Works in Maidenbower, Crawley- River Mole

This is the first of many activities as part of our river restoration plan for the Upper Mole, and we are inviting the local communities to join us.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help restore your local river for the benefit of nature and to meet new people!

Please be aware that this is a very physical activity and a minimum level of fitness is required. This activity may not be suitable for anyone with back pain or other musculoskeletal injury

All tools and equipment, inc. steel toed waders and gloves will be provided.

Meeting Point: Exact points to be confirmed

Day Plan:

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – please RSVP using the button below and complete the form to secure your spot.

Booking for this event will close at: 1700 on Sunday 4th August 2024

Minimum age 16 years old. 16 and 17 year olds will need to be accompanied by an over 18 year old throughout the day.

Please email volunteering@southeastriverstrust.org to:

Find out more information,
Cancel your space if you can no longer make it.

To read our Health and Safety Guidelines for this event please click HERE.

To read our Privacy Policy and see how we use and look after the information you provide when booking your spot at our events please click HERE.

Protected: HP, DAS & RMRW Gravel Seeding Works in Maidenbower, Crawley- River Mole

Gravel Seeding Works in Maidenbower, Crawley- River Mole

This is the first of many activities as part of our river restoration plan for the Upper Mole, and we are inviting the local communities to join us.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help restore your local river for the benefit of nature and to meet new people!

Please be aware that this is a very physical activity and a minimum level of fitness is required. This activity may not be suitable for anyone with back pain or other musculoskeletal injury

All tools and equipment, inc. steel toed waders and gloves will be provided.

Meeting Point: Exact points to be confirmed

Day Plan:

1200-1230: Arrive
1230: Wader up, Introduction, Health & Safety
1245: Gravel Seeding
1400: Tea/Coffee Break (provided by SERT)
1430: Gravel Seeding
1600: Finish 1600

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – please RSVP using the button below and complete the form to secure your spot.

Booking for this event will close at: 1700 on Thursday 1^st August 2024

Minimum age 16 years old. 16 and 17 year olds will need to be accompanied by an over 18 year old throughout the day.

Please email volunteering@southeastriverstrust.org to:

Find out more information,
Cancel your space if you can no longer make it.

To read our Health and Safety Guidelines for this event please click HERE.

To read our Privacy Policy and see how we use and look after the information you provide when booking your spot at our events please click HERE.

Dorking Balsam Bash – River Mole

Activity Description: Volunteer with us at Puddenhole and Castlefields in Dorking to help remove the invasive plant, Himalayan balsam, from the top of the banks of the River Mole.

Himalayan balsam is a big problem for river banks up and down the country. In addition to bringing competition for pollinators, this non-native invasive plant competes with native plants for light, nutrients and space, leading to an overall reduction in biodiversity. Moreover, the fact that the balsam dies back in the winter means that it leaves river banks bare and susceptible to erosion, and the dead leaves and stems can also cause blockages, which lead to flooding.

What’s more, each plant can produce up to 800 seeds per year – and one plant can propel copious amounts of that seed a distance of up to seven metres. This seed can spread considerably further if carried by the river, making it certain – if unchecked – to be more widespread year on year.

Meeting point: Meet on the fields down from the south side of Reigate Road A25, along from Hillier Garden Centre, Brockham, Dorking RH4 1NP, just over Deepdene Bridge, look out for the SERT Flag. Google map HERE

What to bring: Please wear appropriate clothes, long trousers and long sleeves and appropriate footwear. If it is hot, please bring a hat and sun cream. We will be only working from the banks of the river. We will provide tea, coffee and biscuits but please bring a bottle of water and a packed lunch.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – please RSVP using the button below and complete the form to secure your spot. If the event is already fully booked then please sign yourself up to the waiting list and we’ll be in touch if a space becomes available.

Booking for this event will close at 5pm on Sunday 30th June 2024.

Please email volunteering@southeastriverstrust.org to:

Find out more information
Cancel your space if you can no longer make it.

To read our Health and Safety Guidelines for this event please click HERE.

To read our Privacy Policy and see how we use and look after the information you provide when booking your spot at our events please click HERE.

Volunteers test pollution levels on River Mole

Posted on 21 February 202421 February 2024 by Ian Lamont

Volunteers are now collecting vital data about the health of the River Mole, after being given water quality testing kits as part of our Mending the Upper Mole project.

We are thrilled to have teamed up with River Mole River Watch, a local charity group which shares our aim to bring the river back to life for wildlife and people to enjoy.

Lewis briefs the volunteers on how to use the kits to test for pollution on the River Mole

Having picked up their kits this week, the citizen scientists will now be carrying out monthly tests for the next two years, to give us a baseline of pollutants. The volunteers will be measuring 10 aspects of river health, including levels of phosphate, ammonia, nitrate, conductivity, pH for acidity and temperature. All of this data is crucial to help us understand how to improve the river.

Lewis Campbell, SERT’s Catchment Manager in charge of the Mending the Upper Mole project, said: “It is fantastic to have a group of volunteers who want to get into the nitty gritty of looking after their local river by carrying out water quality tests to assess pollution levels. We know River Mole River Watch play an active part in caring for their stretch of river and it is brilliant to team up with them as they do so.

“The volunteers will be helping the Mending the Upper Mole project to assess the health of this section of river in a way that has not been done before. The results will allow us to highlight hotspots of pollution, helping the catchment partnership to implement strategies to combat pollution and help the catchment thrive. We have already added gravels to the river at Maidenbower to help fish and we are working on a number of other projects to improve the waterway for wildlife.”

Simon Collins, one of the Trustees of River Mole River Watch, said: “Our fantastic River Mole River Watch volunteers have been collecting water quality test data across the whole catchment every month for a year. Partnering with SERT has been very helpful indeed and we are excited by the Mending the Upper Mole project as it focusses on water quality and pollution in the Upper Mole which is a particularly sensitive part of the river catchment area. More data will help to identify hot spots and areas we can work with SERT to improve.”

The River Mole catchment partnership is co-hosted between SERT and Surrey Wildlife Trust and the vision is set out on the river network’s Storymap website. The Water Framework Directive status for the water quality in the area being assessed is rated “poor”. The area being measured starts close to the source of the Stanford Brook and encompasses much of the Gatwick Stream.

So what are we measuring and why?

The water quality testing kits that will be used by volunteers

Self-contained testing kits will allow volunteers to monitor levels of chemicals such as phosphates and nitrates. High levels of both nutrients lead to algae growing in the water, depleting oxygen levels and obstructing light making the river unsuitable habitat for other wildlife. High phosphate readings would indicate pollution has likely occurred from untreated sewage – or domestic, misconnected plumbing that bypasses sewage treatment works and goes straight into rivers form surface water drains, known as outfalls.

Another chemical tested for will be ammonia, high levels of which would suggest pollution is coming from either sewage or agriculture. Conductivity measurements will also be taken to identify the presence of salts and heavy metals, indicators of road run-off washed into the river. A temperature reading will also be taken and higher readings are likely to be an indication of spillages from outfalls.

Volunteers with their kits — Volunteers from River Mole River Watch receive water quality testing kits to test for pollution

Natural England funds will bring back water voles, eels and trout to the Hogsmill

Posted on 21 September 2023 by Ian Lamont

The South East Rivers Trust (SERT) has been awarded £393,000 as part of Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, which aims to support targeted action to recover the UK’s most endangered species.

On 14th September, 2023, Natural England chose SERT to host the scheme’s launch at the Hogsmill Stepping Stones in Ewell, Surrey, where the fortunes of water voles, eels and trout will be boosted by the project.

A total of 63 projects across the country have been awarded a share of £14.5 million by Natural England to help recover 150 species nationwide. Following a competitive application round, the money will be used by environmental charities, wildlife organisations, local authorities and charities to deliver the Nature Recovery Network.

Launch of the WET Hogs project — Citizen Zoo demonstrate a water vole realise box at the launch of the Natural Species Recovery Programme

The funding supports propagation, captive rearing, translocations, research and solution-trialling to find the best approaches to enable endangered wildlife to survive and flourish.

Some of the UK’s most iconic river wildlife has been in severe decline for decades, but now thanks to a generous grant awarded to SERT by Natural England, outcomes for rare and endangered wildlife and their habitat are about to improve on the Hogsmill river in South West London.

The WET Hogsmill project led by the South East Rivers Trust, will improve the habitat of the Hogsmill river, a chalk stream in South West London. There are only around 220 chalk streams worldwide meaning that this is an exceedingly rare and special habitat. The project will reintroduce Water Voles onto the river and create new habitats for both European Eel and Brown/Sea Trout. The project will run until Spring 2025.

Water quality testing on the Hogsmill at the Natural Species recovery programme launch

Co-CEO of SERT, Dr Bella Davies said “We are thrilled to have been successful in our application to Natural England’s Species Recovery Grant to support the recovery of water voles, eels and native wild trout which have become near extinct on the Hogsmill river in South West London. The Hogsmill is a rare urban chalk stream meaning that it’s important for nature and an important resource for people too.

“Our project will restore river habitat and create backwaters where fish can take refuge from pollution by creating wetlands to improve water quality which will help reintroduce Water Voles which were once prevalent on the river. We are excited to see this much needed work begin on the ground to bring Water Vole, European Eel and Brown/Sea Trout back to the Hogsmill.”

The Hogsmill river is the first tributary of the non-tidal river Thames and a chalk stream making it a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority habitat. Despite its rarity and importance, the Hogsmill has suffered a wide range of pressures leading to decline and loss of habitats and species over the last century and beyond.

Water Vole numbers have declined sharply since the end of the 20th Century making them currently the UK’s fastest declining mammal with a 97% decrease in population. Once ubiquitous and found in their millions, they are now considered to be on the brink of extinction. Water Voles were once prolific on the Hogsmill but became locally extinct in 2017.

Partnering with Citizen Zoo, a conservation charity, SERT will release 150 Water Voles across two sites on the Hogsmill, supplementing 101 Water Voles previously released by Citizen Zoo in 2022. This will help to increase the genetic diversity of the population.

European Eel are also critically endangered with levels declining by 90-98% from historic figures. Eels migrate up rivers during their life span and recent surveys on the upper Hogsmill recorded just one eel in 2016 and three in 2022. The WET Hogsmill project will support the creation of a large wetland and backwater while also creating a more complex instream habitat which is favoured by European Eel.

Trout have been extinct on the Hogsmill since the 1900s, owing to 19 predominantly obsolete weirs barring their passage, and preventing them from reaching critical spawning grounds in the river’s headwaters. Over the past decade SERT has made 18 of these weirs passable for fish and other species by either removing them or installing technical fish passes or easements. In 2024 the final remaining weir will be made passable for multiple fish species including Brown/Sea Trout and European Eel. By spring 2025 these fish will once again be able to access and migrate throughout the whole river for the first time in over 200 years.

SERT will provide a wide range of complementary community education and engagement activities for members of the public, schools and local businesses. Planned activities include installation of an interactive nature trail, indoor and outdoor education sessions, and community talks to help local people and businesses understand how they can help protect rivers and wildlife.

There will also be several opportunities to volunteer. Those interested to learn more about the project and volunteering activities can sign up to our newsletter or bookmark our events calendar for more information.

Watch our Co-CEO Dr Bella Davies explain how the project will help species in the Hogsmill.

Sign open letter to political parties to support nature

Posted on 26 July 20233 August 2023 by Ian Lamont

River lovers are being urged to sign an open letter calling on all political parties to adopt a five-point plan for wildlife in their manifestos for the next General Election, likely to take place in 2024.

The Rivers Trust movement has joined an 80-strong coalition of partners to support the Nature 2030 Campaign. It is led by the Wildlife and Countryside Link and supported by celebrities including television personalities Steve Backshall and Chris Packham.

Research shows that the UK has become one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with more than one in seven native wildlife species facing extinction.

The campaign outlines that in 2022 sewage was discharged for more than 2.4 million hours across England, Scotland and Wales, accounting for more than 389,000 sewage spills. Commitments were set in 2021 to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, but there’s a long way to go to meet these targets. With only seven years to go, just 3% of land and 4% of sea have this protection. We need stronger environmental leadership and the Nature 2030 campaign demands it.

Wetland restoration scene — A wetland restoration scene from our nature based solutions safari © South East Rivers Trust

Thousands of people have already signed the letter, which was launched at Westminster in July.

As one of the largest regional rivers trusts, the South East Rivers Trust (SERT) is urging supporters to back the campaign, which has five key asks for political parties:

Double the wildlife-friendly farming budget to £6bn for ambitious farm improvements and large-scale nature restoration
Make polluters pay for nature restoration by requiring big businesses to deliver environmental improvement plans and funding to counter damage
Create green jobs on a large scale, including setting up a National Nature Service delivering wide-scale habitat restoration
Increase protection and funding for wildlife sites by creating a Public Nature Estate to fulfil the promise to protect 30% of the land and sea for nature by 2030
Set up a new law guaranteeing a right to a healthy environment, establishing a human right to clean air and water plus access to nature, plus building nature into decision making

Hester Liakos, co-CEO of SERT, said: “Rivers are at the heart of the battle to restore nature. Our work with local communities, farmers and landowners demonstrates the positive difference that nature based solutions and natural flood management can make in improving the health and biodiversity of rivers. But to make this difference on the scale that nature truly needs requires more funding and greater commitment and leadership from Government – so we’re asking our supporters to sign this open letter to demand action from all political leaders.”

Our work backed by either EU or the UK Government includes PROWATER and Environmental Land Management Schemes.

Tessa Wardley, Director of Communications and Advocacy at the Rivers Trust, said: “The public are rightfully outraged by the state of our rivers and we need political parties to make firm commitments towards their recovery, which are then backed up by action. Delivering the Nature 2030 policies would significantly improve the health of our rivers, which are absolutely core to tackling the biodiversity, climate and wellbeing crises we face as a nation and planet.”

Click here to sign the Nature 2030 letter today