Who we are and what we do
The River Wandle is a unique South London chalkstream which flows north from Croydon and Carshalton to join the Thames at Wandsworth. In Victorian times, the Wandle was one of the hardest-working rivers in the world, with 90 mills along its 11 mile length. In the 1960's, it was officially declared a sewer.
First founded in 2000 as the JetSet Club (Junior Environmental Taskforce, Senior Environmental Taskforce), the Wandle Trust is an ecological charity committed to cleaning up the River Wandle in particular, and improving the Wandle Valley as a whole.
Thanks to our efforts, and the generous support of sponsors including Thames Water, the river is now being restored to its former glory as one of Britain's great chalkstreams.
We’re also helping to re-engage children with their home environment through our “Trout in the Classroom” project, which has featured for several years in succession on the BBC’s London Newsround. (However, we are now working completely separately from Alan Suttie.) Click here for details of this year’s project.
We hold community cleanups on the second Sunday of every month, up and down this unique urban chalkstream – pulling out everything from shopping trolleys to shotguns, and improving the environment for birds, fish, insects and local people.
Thames Water has nominated the Wandle Trust as their lead partner in the 5-year Wandle Rehabilitation Project, working in close partnership with many other local organisations to secure the future health and sustainability of the Wandle.
Even so, our vital work on the river still relies entirely upon the hard work and generosity of all our supporters and community volunteers.
For news and details of our latest events, please click here
To find out how to get involved in our monthly cleanups, please click here
Or if you’d like to contact us, join us or make a donation, please click here