River Rother clean up - Friday 18th September 2026

Come and join us to clean up the River Rother! The River Rother The River Rother, who forms the heart and soul of the South Downs National Park, including its many tributaries draining from Empshott and to the north of Liss in the West, to their 'meet' at the river Arun in the East, is the largest biological feature of the South Downs National Park (SDNPA), save the chalk downs. In Petersfield, the River Rother tours our northern area through Sheet and Rotherlands Nature Reserve and then goes off into West Sussex at Durleighmarsh. The many threats to the health of the River Rother, including sewage outfalls, agricultural chemicals, invasive species and, especially, siltation, were examined, as well as the efforts being taken to combat these, including new schemes from Southern Water. Robert MacFarlane is calling for rivers to assume 'personhood', to give river systems 'rights', towards which all who use them, have responsibilities. Rather than use the 'river which', or the 'river that', he asks us to use 'the river who'. To find out more information about the River Rights network. https://www.riverrights.org/ Thank you for offering to come along and clean up the Rother Chalk - it is very much appreciated and will go a long way to supporting our local waterway. Please register and join the Final Straw Foundation, The West Sussex Rivers Trust (WSRT) and Petersfield Climate Action network for a clean-up of the Rother River. Meeting Point Tescos, The Causeway. What 3 words - amicably.juror.pirate Time - 0930-1600 and due to the nature of the clean up and supervision involved you will need to stay for the whole day. Kit - We will provide kit - gloves, litter pickers, bags, and buckets. Meeting point - Tescos can provide toilets and a meeting point. Lunch - There won't be time to go and get any snacks due to the short timescales, so please bring anything you need along with you (please bring a packed lunch or you can buy something from the supermarket). Medical - We will ask you to fill in a medical form that will be emailed separately when you sign up. Toilets. These will be in Tescos. Please see note about changing footwear before going into any food premises to avoid contamination from the stream. Cancellation - While we anticipate that this clean up should be able to go ahead, it will be subject to the weather - while rain is not too much of a problem, if the wind is too high we will not proceed. If the clean-up is going to be cancelled for any reason, we will notify you through Eventbrite (you will be emailed) and on our social media. Parking - please park in Tescos car park. We will get a ticket from customer services to put in your windscreen. You do not have to pay. CLEAN UP RULES • There will be a compulsory safety briefing by Final Straw and The Western Sussex Rivers Trust at the start of the event, please listen carefully and adhere to the guidelines. • Wear sturdy wellingtons, walking boots or steel toe-capped boots. Please ensure they are clean and dry to avoid bringing in any invasive species. We will be providing a boot washing station to avoid any invasive species entering the stream. • Please bring 2 sets of clothes - a clean pair and one to wear in the river. All attendees should wear long sleeves and long trousers to protect their arms and legs from vegetation and associated insects in the channel. Dress for the weather - check the forecast in advance. If it's hot, wear sun cream, if it's raining bring a waterproof rain jacket and so on - layers are great. • When we stop for lunch we will ask you to clean off your boots and change into clean footwear to avoid contaminating any food/leisure premises. • We will also have a hand washing station to ensure you clean hands thoroughly before eating or entering food/leisure premises. • Only go where instructed to go on the day. • Do not pick up anything sharp (broken glass, needles etc). Inform a host and we will remove it. We will have a sharps bin with us. • Under 18's must be accompanied by a responsible adult, no children under 16 will be permitted due to the nature of the site and the type of rubbish that we will be picking up. FSF accepts no responsibility for minors attending the event. • Participation is at the individual's own risk, but please report any incidents to the hosts. • Do not put your hands anywhere near your face, especially your eyes or mouth during the clean. You never know what you may have touched and your gloves will probably be dirty. • Dogs are not permitted due to the type of clean up we are doing. • Always be aware of traffic and moving vehicles. We are grateful for any donations to help us continue our work - please visit our JustGiving Page if you would like to donate to our charities: Final Straw Foundation: https://www.justgiving.com/finalstrawfdn The Western Sussex Rivers Trust: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/18201#!/DonationDetails WSRT acknowledge the support from The Boltini Trust and SDNPT (South Downs National Park Trust) Petersfield Climate Action Network - https://petersfieldcan.org/about-us/donations Your data will be shared with the participating organisations.