'It's fair to say there was enough rubbish to go round' - group cleans up Shrewsbury's River Severn

Around thirty people joined the community litter pick on the River Severn in Shrewsbury on Sunday (June 8) as part of Paddle UK’s nationwide Big Paddle Clean Up.

Taking to the water on paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes, the volunteers hauled dozens bags of rubbish from the river, while others helped on foot from the riverbank.

The litter pickers launched from Frankwell Quay upstream to the weir with rubbish buckets tied to their paddleboards, before making a return trip back along the far side of the river.

Their haul included traffic cones, car tyres, plastic chairs, beer bottles, drinks cans, crisps packets, face masks, and fishing gear.

Chris Houlston, a keen paddleboarder and co-founder of Shrewsbury Vegans who organised the local event, said: "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.

"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.

"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.

"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 has been paddleboarding for the last five years and regularly paddles up and down the Severn with his partner Alice and friends.

He added: "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. 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.

"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."

The Shrewsbury Vegans community, which holds regular events and meetups, is planning another litter pick later in the year due to popular demand. 

Chris said: "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. Keep an eye on the Shrewsbury Vegans Instagram page for the next meet up and help us keep the Severn clean."