I started learning to SCUBA diver in February 2013 and fell
in love with being under the water. Chris Elliot (aka The Master) asked for
help on a project he and Matt, another student, were running in the autumn, the
second river clean. I went along on the
day to help on the shore and was blown away by the amount of rubbish that was dragged
from such a small section of the river Thames.
Jump forward six months and Chris approached me asking if I
would organise KUSAC’S third Thames River Clean. I was in my final year of study and commuting
from Sussex, but jumped at the chance to be involved in such a brilliant
scheme, little did I understand the amount of work that has to be put in before
the scheme can even get off the ground. Thank goodness for Chris and the Union
of Kingston Students’ Volunteering Office who were there to support and help me
to keep the project on track.
The date was arranged and things were running smoothly
when…. Mother Nature decided to throw a spanner in the works and sent rain,
rain, rain and more rain, so much that the Thames was flooding! So with time and the weather against us we
had to postpone until the New Year.
This delay though gave us time to work with Thames 21 and
train up future student organisers of the River Clean and other environmental
projects. It also gave us time to build
stronger links with other organisations and companies such as Aquanauts, a
local scuba and snorkelling shop whose owners, Ian and Lynne, donated cylinders
and air for our divers to use along with volunteer divers from their dive club
who were indispensable.
So the new date is in place Saturday 24th May
2014. The Environment Agency have given us the go ahead, closed off one of the
arches of Kingston Bridge, provided us with a river barge for rubbish, and
informed all river users of the activity.
KUSAC ready, Divers information collated and all ready for the off,
insurances checked, volunteers organised, KUBAG loaning equipment, Aquanauts
equipment and divers ready, volunteers organised, KU Kayakers and KU
Mountaineers ready. Parking organised
free by the Bentalls centre, Local council on-board, Environment agency
organised, Metropolitan Police Kingston informed and aware of project… so now
to cross fingers and toes and pray for good weather.
The day arrives… I have stayed at Simon’s (Dive Manager for
this project) and am up at daft O’clock (that’s before 6am!) and walk along to
meet Chris to collect the equipment.
Then on to Horse Fair Quay where the river clean is being carried
out. By half eight the majority of
volunteers have arrived and organising is in full swing. Volunteers are signed in, and health and safety
talks have been given so now it is down to business.
The first group of four divers enter the water; the kayakers
are providing surface cover and protection to our divers under the
surface. Sarah and Steve from the
Volunteer Office, volunteers from Kingston University Mountaineering club,
KUSAC, KUBAG, Aquanauts, Thames 21 and other Kingston students and alumni were
ready on shore to pull the debris ashore.
The goal was to clean as much as we could, of the area
behind the Bentalls centre on Horsefair Quay; oh and to beat the last river
clean trolley count!
The water looks murky from above but it is
not until you go under the surface that you realise how bad the visibility is
down there. It looks okay until you move or move an item that is in the thick
gloopy muddy silt on the bottom. The
divers had to use their hands to “feel” where the next item was located or sit
and wait for the silt to settle take in their bearings and then reach for the
item knowing that as soon as they moved the silt would come back up and reduce
their visibility to just the end of their noses. So the divers grab the grapnel that has been
lowered down to them from one of the shore people, dive under the water and
attach it to whatever item they have discovered and then tug on the rope to let
the shore party aware that something needs to be pulled up. The divers then move away from the object so
as not to get trapped though keeping an eye on the item in case it gets tangled
in
other debris.
On the shore the volunteers from all the different sports
clubs along with all other volunteers, members of dive club, Aquanauts, Thames
21, and the local RNLI team from Teddington who also popped in to help for a
couple of hours, are ready and eagerly awaiting the treasure trove of items
that the Thames is going to sprout forth.
From divers to water and shore rescue teams, litter pickers, waders,
pullers and grabbers, tea and coffee makers, washer uppers and general go to it
girls and guys all hands were on deck.
Not only did the RNLI give us water cover, after lunch they
also helped to pull items from the river by loaning their muscle power to pull
debris from the Thames.
And so the massive task of stacking all of the
materials/bicycles/debris on to the floating rubbish barge began in earnest.
The final tally of rubbish included, 105 metal shopping
trolleys, 388 glass bottles, 244 drinking glasses, 3 prams, 22 bricks, 45 CD’s,
3 coconuts, 1 stove, 1 microwave oven door, 2 dead pigeons, 2 battery
packs, 2 mallets, 2 gas cylinders, 30
skateboards, 1 children’s bicycle, 13 adult bicycles, 14 scaffold poles, 4 logs
and many many many items that are far too many to list but in total there was
over 4 tonnes of rubbish removed from the river that day!!!
An absolutely amazing achievement by all those involved.
I am so pleased with the result and the hard work and
dedication from all of those involved. The day itself ran really smoothly with
everyone finding a job or role that they could do. Many a smile and some laughter, with a
Christmas like quality to the air sometimes with people wondering what was
going to be dragged out of the river next!!
I want to extend an HUGE thank you to all involved (majority
shown here) for working so hard and managing to help in retrieving such an huge
amount of rubbish from the Thames with little to no fuss, you were all
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
4pm and all divers out of the water, time to clean up, wash
down the area, clear up and go home! By
7pm Chris and I had put the last bit of equipment away and were shattered.
Time to go home and relax with a nice glass of red wine,
until the next time, on your trolleys, get set, GO... Kathy J
The past three years have been incredibly exciting as we have watched our project grow from one cultural exchange in Tamil Nadu, India, into a detailed programme tailored to the mothers and children we volunteer alongside, and we have even piloted a Professional Skills Academy in Sri Lanka with success! We are even more excited to watch this programme continue to grow, adding in new elements and amending with feedback each trip. For example, this summer we added in a staff role to enable Kingston University and Student Union staff to volunteer alongside our students, offering additional skills, insight and knowledge to the workshops run. 
