Join Clean up River Brent – CURB and LAGER Can on Saturday 28 March and volunteer for River Brent clean up. Meet at the Pear Tree Park Bistro for a 10 am start. They will be working in the park and along the river banks to remove rubbish, flotsam and jetsam. This is part of the The Great British Spring Clean on from 13-29 March 2026.
Volunteers will work on the banks and the park. This event is a collaboration with CURB and LAGER Can. Find out more at Clean up River Brent – CURB and their CURB Facebook group.
It’s also a great opportunity to visit the lovely new Pear Tree Park bistro. The former cafe has been transformed into a welcoming space where the smell of freshly baked bread joins the noise and laughter of families, creating a great community space. The bistro serves delicious, locally sourced dishes in a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Great British Spring Clean
The Great British Spring Clean is on from 13-29 March 2026, with great events running locally around Ealing.
Volunteer for River Brent clean up events running as part of the week. Keep Britain tidy runs the scheme with their focus on talking local environmental damage from the ground up. So get litter picking today and make Ealing green.
River 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).
To find out more about these isues, Curb has also written these articles on:
- Urban Pollution impacts on Ealing’s Rivers: In Ealing, and much of London, the surface water drainage system, designed to carry away rain water and prevent flooding, flows directly into the local river. So urban pollution really affects this water system.
- The Wet Wipe Ban & Crisis: Blocking Our Rivers: Britain’s sewers and rivers are repeatedly, and damagingly clogged by wet wipes. The government is planning a plastic wet wipe ban, but can it be that simple?
- Dirty Business a factual drama from Channel 4 which is based on a decade-long investigation into England’s water companies. Dirty Business follows the story of people who notice that the fish in their local river are dying and are determined to find out why.
Curb – Events
Volunteer for River Brent clean up events.
Curb run regular events with these events this week:
- Thursday, 26 March, Mayfield Bridge and area clean up: Meet at 10 am on the bridge, and then work along both banks of the Brent, removing rubbish swept down by the Winter floods.
- Friday, 27 March Greenford bridge flotsam: Meet just downstream of Greenford Bridge at 10 am, on the Left Bank of the Brent (near Lidl, but on the opposite side). We will be working on the banks and in the channel, removing flotsam at the fallen trees trap. An old favourite location.
- Saturday 28 March, Pear Tree Park river clean: Meet at the Bistro for a 10 am start. We will be working in the park and along the river banks to remove rubbish, flotsam and jetsam. Great opportunity to visit the lovely new bistro too.
Join CURB Facebook group for full details and keep updated with upcoming events.
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 trialing a self-started network of water quality sensors with the support of the Environment Agency.
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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