Public events calendar
We are often asked when individuals can take part in Paddle and Pick river or canal clean ups .
People sometimes ask why we have to charge people to take part in on marine plastic clean ups. As they are giving up their time to clean up rivers or canals this should be enough ?
These on water events can actually be quite expensive for us to run (experienced coaches to supervise and keep people safe on water, equipment, insurance, premises rent, licences and so on) and as a small business with rent, taxes and bills to pay we are mostly reliant on sponsors to help with costs. The plastic collected has no value and we are reliant on other parties to help with disposal – or we take it to the local recycling centre at our expense.
Of course there are other ways for individuals or groups to clean up open spaces which don’t incur costs and it’s great that people do this and even organise for others to work alongside them. We often make our litter pickers and trash buckets available to Goodgym – a brilliant organisation dedicated to doing good work in the community combined with outdoor exercise. Getting involved with Goodgym is an excellent way to get local outdoor spaces free from plastic pollution.
Every year we are able to run a few free or low cost Paddle and Picks as part of other events we are involved in and these will all appear on our website and on social media.
We are pleased to announce that we have a new sponsor for In The Drink – the Community Interest Company set up to encourage pubs and bar owners to replace single use plastic cups with reusable ones. We hope to set up a few Paddle and Pick events to promote this project and will announce dates in the spring.
Meanwhile we are always happy to hire our canoes at Paddington and Brentford to groups who would like to organise their own Paddle and Pick events.
Also if you are part of an organisation able to sponsor a Paddle And Pick event you might consider doing so to enable others to take part. We are always happy to talk and arrange an event in your organisation’s name.
Dates of public events so far :
Sept 17th Tidefest Kew Bridge Afternoon
More dates to be announced by late March 2023
