Thames River Watch recognised in Evening Standard awards

Thames21’s Thames River Watch project was recognised in the Evening Standard Business Awards last night.

Tideway, the company building London’s super sewer, won the Corporate Citizen category for its partnership with Thames21 on our flagship Thames citizen science project.

The ES Business Awards citation read: “Tideway. The company is building the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a super-sewer running below the Thames. The firm is also aiming to reconnect Londoners with the river. With the charity Thames21, it has set up Thames River Watch to tackle the scourge of plastic waste and raise awareness about issues affecting the health of the river.”

Tideway’s support helps Thames21 recruit volunteers from riverside communities to collect data about the river’s plastic and other pollution which is then used to create reports about these issues, used to lobby decision makers and amplified by the Thames21 communications team. 

Thames Rivers Watch findings, shaped and shared by Thames21’s communications team, have generated national and international media interest, and been mentioned in Parliament in plastic debates as well as being used by the London Assembly Environment Committee in a report calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to take action. The Mayor subsequently announced an investment in water fountains in London to reduce the tide of plastic waste.

AJ McConville, Thames River Watch co-ordinator at Thames21, said: “Tideway’s involvement goes much further than funding. They have really thrown their belief and commitment behind the project. This shows in the way that they have consistently mobilised their own volunteers and have personally supported us when we have needed an extra to deliver our big landmark events.”

“Volunteers go above and beyond by putting in the genuinely hard work of counting the types of litter because they can see how worthwhile it is to identify the specific issues faced by our river and oceans.” 

Thames21 is now crowdfunding in order to maintain and grow its campaigning on the plastic issue which continues to blight the capital’s river.

The award was received by John Sage, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Tideway, and AJ McConville.

• The most recent data about Thames River Watch’s statistics can be found on the project’s litter monitoring results page.
• Find out more about Thames River Watch and how to get involved, on our dedicated page.