Young People Rid River of Rubbish

Up to 100 pupils, staff and parents from St Paul's School and the Barnes Safer Neighbourhoods Team will be joining forces with Thames21 for a big clean up of the Thames foreshore in Barnes on Saturday 24 March.

Pupils will swap satchels for bin bags to help the clean up charity clear unsightly and harmful litter.

River Programmes Manager Chris Coode said, 'The involvement of young people in our work to clean up the river is vital as their attitudes to the environment will help shape the future of the River Thames and we're delighted St Paul's and other local groups are keen to get stuck in.'

The charity is the official charity for The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race and this clean up close to the finish line will contribute to a cleaner greener river for the 250,000 visitors who congregate along the riverbank to cheer on the university crews and soak up the party atmosphere.

Volunteers on the day will discover that one of the most common and harmful items of litter clogging up the River Thames are plastics.

Chris Coode added, 'Plastic ring pulls, plastic cups, plastic bottles and of course, plastic bags are clogging up London's waterways and harming local wildlife and the wider marine environment.'

Although the river Thames is today one of the cleanest city rivers in Europe, at least 1,000 tonnes of rubbish is removed from the tidal Thames every year, and the charity warns that much more litter is washed out to sea with devastating effects on marine life. Sea turtles are regularly killed by swallowing plastic bags which they mistake for jelly fish.

Event details
Date: Saturday 24 March
Photo Call: 12pm Contact for meeting times and location.

Ends
Media enquiries - Leigh McAlea at Thames21 020 7213 0166 / 07875 250 284

Notes to Editors:
1. Thames21 is an environmental charity working with communities to improve and maintain London's rivers and canals. Its mission is to create clean, safe and sustainable waterside environments for all.
2. www.thames21.org.uk
3. Thames21 is the official charity for The Boat Race 2007 www.theboatrace.org