The July Updates From FoTT
- Laura Reineke
- Jul 23
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 10
FRIENDS OF THE THAMES: July 2025 |
The Bog Log at the Traditional Boat Festival! |
We’ve had a wonderfully sunny month, my swim training is ramping up with only 8 weeks until I swim Catalina Channel, the 21 miles from Santa Catalina Island to L.A. Overnight on 16th September. Delighted that Sustain Insurance Brokers have joined Tony Allen Foundation, GLL foundation & Surf Ears in sponsoring my attempt to become around the 7th British female to hold the triple crown - the other two swims being: English Channel & Circumnavigation of Manhattan Island. I’ll be sharing the tracker and WhatsApp group nearer the time, so you can follow my very slow progress! It’s been silly season here, in Henley, with the Regatta, where thousands of elite athletes came to race, as well as 300,000 visitors! the E.coli levels on the racecourse were over 3000cfu. We then had the Henley Festival, a music, comedy & arts festival where 27,000 people descended on the Thames. We all had a fantastic day at the River Summit & Festival at Morden Hall, on the poorly-looking Wandle, hearing some fascinating speeches, and meeting fellow river enthusiasts, huge thanks to friend of the Thames Claire Zambuni for organising this must-go event. Myself, Libby & Finlay (introducing them below) had a great time at the Traditional Boat Festival in Henley, where we made lots of new contacts, and gave talks on the threats to our Thames. Laura
If you love the Thames—walk by her swim in her, row on her, picnic beside her—we need you. The river is being polluted and ignored. We’re calling on every river lover to donate £5 to help restore and protect her. Together we will #SaveTheThames. #SaveTheThames is a crowdfunding and visual petition campaign calling on everyone who loves the Thames to donate £5 to help fund: River Guardians Network Public campaigning & media pressure Legal and political advocacy We believe the power to save the river lies with the people who use and love it. WE NEED FUNDING NOW, PLEASE HELP US BY SHARINGLatest NewsThe recently published Cunliffe report is deeply frustrating - we dismiss it as a waste of time. While the report acknowledges the critical state of the UK’s waterways, it offers little in the way of enforceable action. We argue that no real progress will be made while up to 50% of customer water bills are used to service company debt, and while the water industry continues to be run for profit rather than public good. We would like to emphasise that genuine reform must begin with systemic change—starting with a public ownership model teamed with strict regulation to prioritise environmental protection over shareholder dividends. Robert Peston says “We estimate that over £85 billion has been extracted from the English Water system by shareholders and affiliated parties since privitisation, this was egregious pillaging by shareholders that was licensed by successive governments and the regulator. As the report says, company executives and boards, regulators, ministers, all were to blame. It summarises: this £85 billion represents a direct transfer of value from the public to private owners - a sum extracted while storm overflows proliferated, leakage targets were missed, and river health declined.” We think that says it all! The fabulous new members of our FoTT Family. Finlay Reid - Research Growing up in Henley, the Thames has always been important to Finlay. Now studying Civil Engineering he looks to understand how the water sector, regulators, and the government have failed the river, and what is to be done. Libby Hooper - Social Media "Having grown up beside the River Thames, Libby has witnessed the devastating consequences of the mismanagement, abuse, and outright neglect of our waterways. With so much at stake, she was eager to get involved with FoTT, and the mission to restore the river and better the lives of the human and non-human communities which depend on her. With a background in social and political sciences, and particular passions for human-nonhuman interaction, sustainability, and conservation, she hopes to aid FoTT’s mission of reconnecting people to their natural world through social media communications, and helping people embrace and recognise the value and importance of upholding strong relationships with our non-human world." Media &filming this month With the various announcements that OFWAT is to be disbanded, and the Cunliffe report coming out, we have all been very busy. You can find us on BBC Radio 4 - World at 1, BBC Radio Berkshire & Oxfordshire, ITV Meridian, Sky News, Women’s Hour, News Hub, amongst others.
Tunes on the Thames for Friends of the Thames Join us at Tunes on the Thames—an uplifting evening of live music, and great company at the beautiful Lockdown Lodge on the River Thames, at Hambleden Lock. As the sun sets over the water, enjoy performances in a stunning setting while supporting Friends of the Thames and our mission to protect and restore this iconic river for future generations. Friday 8th August Lockdown Lodge, Hambleden Lock 6pm
Make a Nuisance campaign! We’ve launched a powerful but simple new legal action that we want YOU to be part of. Through this campaign, residents, community groups and sports clubs across the Thames will be coming together to issue nescience complaints to their local authorities, demanding investigations into Thames Waters sewage pollution. Our aim is for Local Authorities issue of abatement abatement notices to Thames Water - legal orders that require the water company to stop causing a statutory nuisance. We are planning to simultaneously deliver at least one complaint in every local authority along the Thames - from source to sea. We are particularly looking for people & communities in the regions below to gather evidence, however if you are not in one of these locations, please do join, and we can link you with others in your area: Bexley Cherwell Dartford Elmbridge Greenwich Hammersmith & Fulham Havering Kingston Lambeth Lewisham Newham Runnymede Spelthorne Tower Hamlets If you’ve already joined, or are interested, please do come to the webinar on Thursday here. To sign up to the campaign, please register below! An introduction from the River Residents Group (RRG)From vice-chair Michelle LovricThe RRG came into existence informally in 2019. We first united to campaign against a project to bring Europe’s biggest party boat, the Oceandiva, to London. The Oceandiva is gone but the RRG is here to stay. For us, the vessel was only symptomatic of wider problems of governance on the Thames. We believe that polluting cruise ships have no place metres from residents, and we are opposing current proposals to privatise river access for drinking venues. We are trying to deal with uncontrolled emissions from vessels and with excessive noise from party boats and thrill experience RIBs as well as wash from speeding Clippers that erodes the shoreline, harms wildlife and damages houseboats. We think there should be more transparency and accountability in the harvesting of river income, be it charges for balconies or the licensing of riverside developments that impact profoundly on residents. The RRG is interested in making the Thames a place that all stakeholders can enjoy. We want a lively, successful, accessible and collaborative river. We want a green, not a greenwashed river. We are trying to make the Thames a fairer river. We work with Riparian MPS and GLA members, ward councillors, Licensing and Planning departments in the riparian boroughs, riverside businesses, wildlife volunteers, mudlarks, livery companies and local community groups. We raise our members’ issues with the Department for Transport, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the Marine Maritime Organisation, the Environment Agency and the Port of London Authority (PLA). In 2025, the RRG presented hundreds of pages of evidence to the Public Inquiry into the PLA’s Harbour Revision Order. You can join here (it’s free) to receive the newsletter and start using our quick and effective Google Tool for reporting disturbances on the Thames. The RRG looks forward to collaborating with Friends of the Thames on long-term projects like River Guardians and Legal Personhood. We have organized an evening with Robert Macfarlane in Southwark Cathedral where he will discuss his new book Is a River Alive? with Martha Kearney. You can book here: Is a River Alive? | An Evening with Robert Macfarlane Tickets, Thu, Sep 11, 2025 at One to watch! Evenlode catchment partnership have a fantastic range of webinars “voices of the river” on youtube here. From vet meds, to the processes for wastewaters. Community Call Back in September - watch this space GET INVOLVEDWant to play a bigger role in protecting the Thames? We’re looking for volunteers to help with the following: 💰 Fundraising – Support our efforts by helping to secure funding and donations. 🔍 General help – we need help with all our campaigns, policies, and general paperwork Newsletter Coordinator - Volunteer needed to collate and publish the newsletter. community coordinator - We need help with community communications. If you can lend a hand, we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch at friendsofthethames@gmail.com. MORE ACTIONS:
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