Fulham FC Runs Clean-up of Litter on the Foreshore

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Club teams up with waterways charity Thames21 and local volunteers

Pictures by Simon Dael

Fulham Football Club has teamed up with waterways charity Thames21 to organise a clean-up of Fulham's foreshore.

They say that the sun shines on the righteous and if there is any truth in that then the foreshore had a bunch of very righteous people visiting it on Wednesday 10th April.

Thames21 is a charity that is 'the voice for London's waterways, working with communities to improve rivers and canals for people and wildlife'.

After a health and safety briefing from AJ McConville of Thames21, the volunteers and team from the charity set off through Bishop's Park to the steps down to the foreshore.

The stretch designated for cleaning was set out between two cages supplied by the Port of London Authority, where the bagged litter was placed for barges to remove at high tide.

Fulham neighbour and co-founder of Putney Tidy Towpath, Sandi Bloomfield, pictured above tackling the litter, joined the clean-up team "to see how the Fulham foreshore differed on the other side of our stretch of the river".

Sandi said: " I was shocked by the difference - there were thousands of wet wipes and sanitary products, intertwined with plastic waste, fishing nets, ropes and plenty of clothing, whereas Putney's foreshore there are few wet wipes and mainly plastic rubbish, such as bottles, broken polystyrene and earbuds sticks."

AJ McConville was also surprised by the litter they found in the area, saying: "We haven't been to this site for ten years and the type of litter is very different. We were picking up traffic cones and shopping trolleys, not thousands of wet wipes."

His colleague, Thames21's Poppy Flint said: "What is alarming is how it can look clean from the walkway above the river. It isn't until you look closely that you realise the scale of the problem; tangled masses of wet wipes and sanitary towels covered in silt. These will be breaking down into micro plastics which will be washed into the sea with the tides.

"The people taking part today were horrified by the extent of it. There were pledges never to flush wet wipes again and great conversations about what actions individuals can take. One person said all school students should take part in an event like this to truly understand that when we throw something 'away' it has impact somewhere else."

Fulham FC is now aiming to run more events on the foreshore. A spokesperson for the club said: " The river clean-up along the foreshore at Craven Cottage involved many volunteers from our community including representatives from a leading waterways charity, Thames21, Fulham FC Foundation and Club Partner, Buxton. We thank all participants for giving up some of their spare time.

"It was a worthwhile exercise and helps to sustain and improve our local environment and we look forward to hosting similar events in the future."

Sandi Bloomfield

April 20, 2019