Top UK prize recognises £5m scheme that's transformed Lancashire's River Ribble catchment area

Ribble Rivers Trust and the Ribble Life Catchment Partnership have been awarded the prestigious UK River Prize for the partnership programme, Ribble Life Together.

Over the past eight years Ribble Life Together has brought together more than 20 organisations, delivering significant improvements to the Ribble catchment, benefiting both people and the environment.

“Winning the UK River Prize is like winning an Oscar,” said Jack Spees, Ribble Rivers Trust chief executive.

“It’s the one everyone in river conservation wants to win, and we’re thrilled to share this award with everyone who’s worked with us over the past eight years – volunteers, partners, funders and communities.

"It’s also a wonderful way to celebrate the amazing habitats and species who have benefited from this programme. It’s an amazing way to mark the end of this journey, but it’s also just the beginning of the story where we bring our rivers up to their best.”

Projects

Projects have included: planting more than 24 hectares of woodland across 30 sites, delivering 15 wetland projects, building 14 fish passes, unlocking 184km of river habitat, improving access and interpretation and installing sensory art across the catchment, and investing in the use of data and evidence, expanding knowledge to help RRT continue improving the catchment after this programme is finished.

Funding

Funding of £3.2million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Environment Agency, Natural Course, Woodland Trust, Lancashire Environment Fund and others was supplemented by a huge volunteering programme, support ‘in kind’ such as use of facilities, and preceded by a £773,000 development phase between April 2015 and November 2016.

During the programme, Ribble Rivers Trust employed apprentices for the first time and benefited from 13,622 hours of volunteer time.

Harvey Hamilton-Thorpe, Deputy chief executive of Ribble Rivers Trust siad: added: “As with all major programmes, there have been challenges, even times when we wondered if we’d get everything finished, but we did and we’re over the moon at winning the UK River Prize.

"We want to say a huge thank you to all of our funders, supporters and volunteers, too many to mention, but all vitally important to the success of the programme. ”