Next CRKC meeting: Tuesday 19 March 2024, 4.30-6.30pm, at The Institute, Staveley. All welcome.
Please also join us for our upcoming planning event on Saturday 2 March, 12.00-2.30pm in Kendal Parish Hall. We’ll have more information about this in due course. Please follow our Facebook page to stay up to date with our latest news.
February 2024
CRKC featured in short film by students from Kendal College
Many thanks to Sam and Jaimie from Kendal College for featuring us in this film about local understanding of and attitudes towards issues surrounding the river Kent. Thank you also to all of the members of the public who shared their views.
Our report from the United Utilities ‘Clean Water, Clean Streets’ drop-in event
Thank you to everyone who supported and came along to the recent drop-in event with United Utilities. Please read our recap and statement, signed by United Utilities and Staveley with Ings Parish Council, on our news page.
January 2024
Upcoming meeting with Louise Beardmore, CEO of United Utilities
United Utilities CEO, Louise Beardmore, is due to visit Staveley at the end of the month for a drop-in event, alongside the Environment Agency, Westmorland & Furness council, and other partners.
CRKC will have a stall at the event to provide information about our campaign and our citizen science projects, with our Rights of the River Kent video, Russ Hore’s layered map, Nicola Fearnley’s photographs and river interactive piece, and more besides.
Prior to the public drop-in, CRKC and the Staveley with Ings Parish Council with both have the opportunity to speak directly with Louise and discuss issues and concerns surrounding the river Kent.
If you feel strongly about the condition of our local river, please join the Facebook event and come to this community drop-in to make your voice heard.
December 2023
Clean River Kent Campaign – December update
Our December update includes information about the upcoming United Utilities visit to Staveley, our citizen science programme and our 2024 planning meeting. Read it here.
November 2023
‘Along the river Kent’ photo exhibition
Many thanks to everyone who joined us for our exhibition at Wilf’s in the Mill Yard on 15 November. It was fantastic to celebrate our beloved river Kent with art and photography, and to share information about the Clean River Kent Campaign.
Our co-founder, Isobel, was interviewed at the event for ITV Border News. We were pleased to be able to share our love of the river Kent with a wider audience and to raise awareness of the issues the river is currently facing.
Thank you to Wilf’s Cafe for hosting us, to Nicola Fearnley, Sue Madden, Sue Walley and Staveley CP Primary School for displaying their art, and to Hawkshead Brewery for donating mulled wine as a welcome drink. We’d also like to thank all of the businesses that donated prizes to the raffle and, of course, the fantastic CRKC volunteers who made this event happen.
FreshwaterWatch interim report
In November, we also created an interim report from the Freshwater Watch surveys we’ve been doing with volunteers. We’ll publish full report of the first quarter of testing in early 2024.
September 2023
United Utilities visit, monitoring progress and Intel Hub
VISIT POSTPONED UNTIL JANUARY – more information here.
CEO of United Utilities, Louise Beardmore, is visiting Staveley on Monday 2 October to discuss the problems our community faces from sewage spilling onto our streets and into our precious river Kent. We plan to present her with evidence of our community’s strong feelings about this issue.
We’re working with volunteers to monitor the river from Scroggs Bridge to Levens, and we’ve secured some funding for genetic testing to help us determine the source of E. Coli found in the river last year.
We’ve also started work on a Clean River Kent Campaign Intel Hub. Read more.
Interested in volunteering with the Clean River Kent Campaign? Email senstaveley@gmail.com