Rave On For the Avon

Courtesy of Eighty Sita Productions

There is an ecological emergency in English rivers. The human and wildlife population are at risk.

Today, in England, only 14% of rivers are in good ecological health & none are in good chemical health.

In 2021, the environmental performance of the UK’s water & sewage companies fell to the lowest level on record, with little improvement since.

In a densely residential part of East Bristol runs a serene section of the River Avon which attracts crowds of swimmers in the summer and a regular rotation of cold-water swimmers in winter.

It offers solace and healing for those struggling with mental health issues and a free outdoor activity for local lower-income families.

But the Bristol Council prohibits swimming in the river, and it’s often filled with dangerous levels of raw sewage, chemical pollution and farm run-off.

This leaves everyone with a dilemma; for all the benefits the river gives them, it could potentially cause them even greater harm.

Three local swimmers (Becca, Em and Eva) formed the Conham Bathing Group, a citizen-led water testing programme to help raise awareness of the poor water quality in the Avon.

​The Conham Bathing Group are applying for Designated Bathing Water Status (DBWS). Officially designated Bathing Waters are the only blue spaces where water quality is regularly monitored for its effect on human health, and legal obligations are put on polluting industries to clean up their act. In the UK there are currently only 3 stretches of river, all of which have been won through local campaigns. 

This film features a tapestry of people who love and fight for this river, illustrating how much there is to loose if the Avon continues to face unending pollution.  

This film will deliver a sense of urgency to the Bristol Council about the critical state of the River Avon and how much locals rely on it for health and wellbeing. It is a Bristol community account that will galvanise audiences to campaign for policy change in the UK and Internationally.

Rave On For The Avon will be screened at The UK River Summit and throughout the UK, inviting viewers to seek out swimming spots in their local area and fight to protect them. The situation is dire but there is hope and community to be found in protecting rivers. 

The team are collaborating with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Rivers Trust to point people to a growing movement of activism which seeks to attain 200 designated bathing waters by 2030. For more infomation please visit SAS's Protecting Wild Waters Campaign.