Since October 2007, the Wandle Piscators have been running the Wandle’s cell of the national Riverfly Partnership‘s Anglers’ Monitoring Initiative, checking the river’s water quality by kick-sampling its invertebrates once a month – and poised to kick up a stink if we detect a source of pollution that’s killing those valuable members of the Wandle’s delicate food web.
Sponsored by Thames Water as part of the Living Wandle project, our programme covers the whole catchment with a network of trained and accredited volunteer Riverfly monitors. Well-informed sources also tell us that we’re regularly cited as a national model of best practice…
… but it’s always nice to be sure, so we’re thrilled to announce that all the hard work of our Riverfly Co-ordinator, William Tall, has now been officially recognised.
Last Monday evening, during an Association of Rivers Trusts conference and awards evening at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, Will became the first recipient of the Thames River Restoration Trust‘s prestigious new John S Hills Memorial Award.
Created in memory of TRRT’s first Chairman, John S Hills MBE who died suddenly in March this year, the award is given for outstanding contribution to any of the Trust’s objectives within the Thames catchment.
In a moving ceremony, the trophy was presented by Joan Hills…
… gloriously crowning a day of river restoration talk, planning and celebration that began with an address from Minister for Marine and Natural Environment Huw Irranca-Davies, continued with presentations from the Wandle’s very own Dr Bella Davies and other partners across the ART network, and culminated in this public recognition of Will’s personal dedication on behalf of the whole Wandle regeneration project.
The full text of our joint press release with the Wandle Trust is available to download by clicking here.
Congratulations, Will, and may there be many more awards like this!
Update: Will’s award has now been reported in the local Wimbledon Guardian and other Wandle Valley papers in the Guardian Group. Read the report here and check out more Wandle publicity on our listings page!