21st May, Morden Hall, The River Wandle

The UK River Summit 2024

The Schedule

This unaffiliated event, curated by an independent team, facilitated a forum for interested parties and stakeholders involved with the range of issues affecting UK rivers. Set at Morden Hall, London on 21st May 2024, the event was attended by over 250 people on the day.

The UK River Summit aimed to bring together a diverse range of environmental stakeholders from policy makers, regulators, campaigners, anglers, wild swimmers, surfers, anglers, media, businesses, brands, artists, film makers, celebrities, politicians, and members of the public who all share a desire to work towards a more positive future for our rivers. The event provided a platform for collaboration and communication on the current issues and solutions required to improve the health of our rivers.

Panels of speakers discussed various topics from water scarcity, agricultural and sewage pollution, the environmental impacts of industrial practices in the countryside, and much more, followed by a Q&A.

There was food from Abel & Cole surplus, Beer from Lakedown Brewing Company, and workshops throughout the day. Event partners included Orvis UK, South East Rivers Trust, River Action UK, Fish Legal, The National Trust, Surfers Against Sewage, YETI, Lakedown Brewing Co., Filson, and Delivita, with more to be announced.

Take a look at the schedule to get a feel for the day…

The Panels

  • “It’s Not All About Sewage”

    Featuring: Matthew Wright as Facilitator and speakers including, Shaun Leonard (Wild Trout Trust), Bella Davies (South East Rivers Trust), Penny Gane (Fish Legal), Hannah Fluck (National Trust), Hannah Gunter (Proteus Instruments), Dylan Roberts (GWCT), Jim Murray (Activist Anglers) and Dr Jack Hogan.

  • River Action UK Panel “The Freshwater Emergency: From Scarcity to Abundance”

    Featuring: James Wallace as Facilitator and speakers including, Philip Duffy (Environment Agency), Lila Thompson (British Water), Feargal Sharkey, Lawrence Gosden (Southern Water), and Helena Horton (The Guardian).

  • Cross-Party Panel

    Featuring: James Wallace (River Action UK) as Facilitator, Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats, Katherine Foxhall of the Green Party, and Toby Perkins of the Labour Party, took part in a Cross-Party discussion at the event. Natalie Prosser of the OEP also joined. The General Election was announced the following day.

  • Effecting Policy: Planning the Plan Panel

    Featuring: Matthew Wright as Facilitator and speakers including, Ashley Smith (WASP), Shosha Adie (ENDS Report), Dani Jordan (Surfers Against Sewage), Penny Gane (Fish Legal), Stewart Clarke (National Trust), Stuart Singleton-White (Angling Trust), and Bobby Dean (Lib Dem MP).

  • The Future of Farming

    Featuring: Rob Yorke as Facilitator and speakers including Robin Leech (JM Stratton), Mike Blackmore (Wessex Rivers Trust), Ed Ayton (Abel & Cole), Henry Clemons (Knight Frank), and Alex Adam (The Rivers Trust).

Culture and Celebration

  • Art

    We were proud to host an Art Exhibition on the day with works from Jo Minoprio, Julia Manning, and many more, inspired by fish, our rivers and waterways. If you’re interesting in exhibiting with us, get in touch.

  • The Funny Terns

    Theatre-maker, comedy songwriter and eco-activist Angus Barr will be joined by award-winning campaigner and founder of City to Sea, Natalie Fée. Together they will save the planet using only cheap stringed instruments and their voices.

  • Fly Fishing & Casting

    Our event partner Orvis UK introduced guests to all things fly fishing and casting for beginners. The Wandle Piscators, were on hand to help people get involved in fishing, Riverfly monitoring, and water quality testing experiences too.

  • Workshops

    As an integral part of the River Wandle Community, both the Wandle Industrial Museum and the South East Rivers Trust led afternoon workshops, including in-river experiences. Head to our schedule to find out more.

  • Food & Drink

    Included in the ticket, guests enjoyed a pizza cooked by DeliVita Chef Ambassador Marc Biasetti. Lakedown Brewing Company beers, and Abel & Cole delicious salads made using organic food surplus that would have gone to waste.

  • Film

    Film screenings included the “Wandle: A River at Risk” with panel of cast and crew including Bobby Dean, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Carshalton & Wallington and a screening of “Hydrotherapy” by Friction Collective.

Meet the Artists…

  • Julia Manning

    Julia Manning’s majestic relief prints celebrate the preciousness and strength of nature. Her fascination with animals began at an early age, and has developed throughout her life. In her prints, Julia aims to capture the spirit of the natural world that she maintains a close relationship with through regular drawing trips and coastal walks. She recently won the The Conservation Through Art Award at the Society of Wildlife Artists Annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.

  • Dexter Kazmierkiewicz

    As a dedicated fly fisherman, Dexter Kazmierkiewicz possess a deep reverence for the serene beauty of natural environments. His leisure activities frequently involve immersing himself in the peaceful wilderness, where he partakes in the refined practice of fly fishing, seeking wild trout in the small streams.  Fundamentally, he is an artist with a focus on creating intricate trout-inspired pieces. He finds himself moved by the turbulence of nature, and is committed to the ecological restoration of our rivers, ensuring their integral preservation for generations to come.

  • Elly Platt

    Distraught and disgusted by the discovery that her beloved local river, the Wandle, was being routinely polluted by discharges of untreated sewage by Thames Water, local textile artist and costume maker, Elly Platt, started crafting a response to this ongoing problem, based on her observations of the Wandle. Among other works, Elly will present her wearable art: Wandle Vs The Wet Wipes at The UK River Summit & Festival.

  • Jo Minoprio

    Both an artist and a conservationist, Jo Minoprio is passionate about highlighting the situation under the surface of our waterways; about saving our rivers and the species within them. A keen angler, river fly monitor, and voluntary water bailiff, Jo is a key part of the Exmoor Rivers and Streams Group (ERASG) and her work shines through in her prints. Each impression she creates is a lengthy process of trial and error, the wonderful randomness of the results and the exquisite details that are revealed of our fabulous underwater friends make it both exciting and intriguing.

  • Al Simmons

    Al Simmons is a photographer and fly fisher based in North London. The focus of his photography is landscapes and rivers. Al’s prints are made by hand using the cyanotype technique, and the work you see today is all made using water from the River Wandle as part of the process. Specifically, the water is from the stretch of the river where Al caught his first trout.

Film at The UK River Summit & Festival

  • The Wandle At Risk

  • The River Nar

  • Hydrotherapy by Friction Collective

  • Fish Legal by Friction Collective

  • Beavers Trust Animation

  • This is Sh*t! - River Action

  • Black Samphire - River Action

  • Our Wild Salmon - Fisheries Management Scotland

  • GWCT - 50 Years of Salmon on the Frome

  • Rave on for the Avon