Join CURB and LAGER Can at Pitshanger Park for River Brent clear up. It’s on Sunday 17 August 2025 from 10:00-13:00. They are meeting at the Old Bowls Pavilion in Pitshanger Park. Join in a large-scale clean-up of the river banks, and channel.
Volunteers can work on the banks and park, or wade. A boat might be used to remove plastic sheeting from trees in deep water. This event is a collaboration with CURB and LAGER Can. Find out more at Clean up River Brent – CURB and their CURB Facebook group.
Increasing pollution
Serious pollution incidents by water companies have risen 60% in a year, according to the Environment Agency. In total there were 2,801 pollution incidents in England in 2024. This is the highest on record, compared with 2,174 in 2023. Just three companies were responsible for the vast majority of the most serious incidents. This includes our own London Thames Water (33), Southern Water (15) and Yorkshire Water (13).
Great UK WaterBlitz
You can get involved too, by joining the Great UK WaterBlitz is a biannual campaign, find out more in our article Join the Water Blitz: Monitor Water Quality in September. They are asking everyone to go out and test the quality of their local freshwater including rivers, streams and lakes. This helps to build a picture of water quality across the UK.
About CURB
CURB is Clean up River Brent and works in association with Thames21. Together with local volunteers including LAGER Can has removed around 100 tonnes of rubbish from the river. This includes over 500 car tyres. They also have initiated an invasive species replacement programme, planting hundreds of reed and rush rhizomes. CURB reports regularly to Thames Water and the Environment Agency on pollution in the River Brent. They are building connections with other volunteer groups throughout the Brent Catchment. They are also currently trialling a self-started network of water quality sensors with the support of the Environment Agency.
CURB campaigns to prevent discharges into the Brent, an example of which featured on Channel 4’s Dispatches investigation into river pollution on 29 August 2022.
Our rivers and freshwater habitats are at crisis point and we need urgent action. Ben Morris, founder of CURB and trustee of the Brent River Park (BRP) charity said:
“It’s astonishing that there are thousands of properties in the capital whose raw sewage is piped directly into rivers, without even seeing a treatment works. There are 5 such buildings on the Brent, and our volunteers have counted the wet-wipes and sampled the water to prove it.
These cases represent a complete failure of Property and Environmental regulation, and we call on the Local Authorities, Thames Water, the Environment Agency, and Property Owners, working with the Mayoral Authority, to sit down and sort this problem out once and for all.
About LAGER Can
LAGER Can, the Litter Action Group for Ealing Residents, was founded in 2017 by Keith Freegard, then a resident of Hanwell. Membership has climbed to 2,000 and continues to grow.
Their primary goal is to make the London Borough of Ealing’s open spaces cleaner and greener. To achieve this they work with our partners at Ealing Council, Thames 21 and the Canal & River Trust as well as businesses, schools and youth groups. Contact LAGER Can to find out more .
Having achieved Thames 21 River Action Group Status in March 2022, we’re working hard with Clean Up the River Brent (CURB) to keep our waterways clear of rubbish and and free from invasive species. They have cleaned the River Brent throughout its course in the London Borough of Ealing, and up-river in the neighbouring borough of Brent.
In 2021 they were honoured to receive a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The award was collected by Keith and LAGER Can Chair Cathy Swift in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey. A highlight of 2023 was meeting HM King Charles III during his visit to Ealing.
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