Around thirty passionate volunteers converged on the River Severn on Sunday as part of Paddle UK’s nationwide Big Paddle Clean Up, successfully removing dozens of bags of rubbish from the river and its banks.
The community litter pick, organised by Shrewsbury Vegans, saw participants take to the water on paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes, while others assisted on foot from the riverbank.
Launching from Frankwell Quay, the dedicated team navigated upstream to the weir, with rubbish buckets ingeniously tied to their paddleboards. They then made a return trip along the far side of the river, collecting a diverse and disheartening array of waste. Their haul included unexpected items like traffic cones and car tyres, alongside more common pollutants such as plastic chairs, beer bottles, drinks cans, crisp packets, discarded face masks, and a significant amount of fishing gear.
Chris Houlston, a keen paddleboarder and co-founder of Shrewsbury Vegans, expressed his delight at the turnout. “We expected maybe four or five people from the local vegan community to come and join us, but around thirty people turned up at Frankwell and got stuck in straight away,” he remarked. Houlston highlighted the effectiveness of combining water-based and land-based efforts: “The paddleboards meant we could grab the rubbish that’s often inaccessible from the riverbank while having people on foot meant we could really clean up the bank too.”
He extended his gratitude to all participants and supporting organisations. “We’re really grateful to everyone who joined in and also to the Shrewsbury Green Party and Up Sewage Creek for helping us out with extra litter pickers and John Morris from Shropshire Highways for taking away all the rubbish we collected,” he said. Houlston also noted a serendipitous encounter: “We also bumped into the Severn Rivers Trust who were doing their own litter pick – it’s fair to say there was enough rubbish to go round.”
Chris, who has been paddleboarding the Severn with his partner Alice and friends for five years, spoke of the river’s dual nature. “Being stood up on the river and letting it take you along is an incredible experience. It makes you feel really close to nature and you’ll often spot kingfishers, herons and even mink,” he shared. However, this natural beauty is marred by pollution. “But alongside the animals you see lots of rubbish. It’s all the litter that gets dropped in the town centre and blown into the river and then washed downstream. It’s having a really disastrous impact on the Severn, especially all the plastic.”
He underscored the broader environmental implications, citing alarming statistics: “The Canal and Rivers Trust estimates there are around 14 million pieces of plastic rubbish going into UK rivers and canals every year – and the vast majority of this ends up in our oceans. So anything we can do to stop rubbish going into the river in the town centre really helps.”
Due to the overwhelming positive response, the Shrewsbury Vegans community, which regularly hosts events and meetups, is already planning another litter pick for later in the year.
“What we’ve learned is that people love being able to take care of their local environment. What’s great about litter picking is that it’s so easy to do and it makes an immediate impact,” Houlston affirmed. He encouraged wider participation in future clean-ups: “Keep an eye on the Shrewsbury Vegans Instagram page for the next meet up and help us keep the Severn clean.”