At our First Ripples session on Saturday March 8, we were delighted to be joined by our Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon District, Manuela Perteghella.
MP Perteghella has long been a supporter of local citizen science efforts to monitor water quality and highlight related issues. Since becoming an MP last year, she has been an effective advocate for rivers. During a House of Commons debate on Water Bathing Regulations on March 4, 2025, she made an intervention, along with other MPs, about the importance of a healthy natural environment and the rights of rivers. We thank her for this commitment and support. Read more here:
Excerpt: “I thank the many citizen science projects in my constituency, such as Safe Avon, that have highlighted the scale of the issue and the impact of poor water quality on the Avon, its tributaries, and our many precious brooks and streams. Our local residents and groups have come together to create River Hope, which is a new participatory process taking place in Stratford-on-Avon. It fosters a positive narrative for the River Avon ecosystem, and involves individuals, community groups and others implementing activities and events in, on, around and about our local water catchments and their biodiverse ecosystems. Residents not only engage in practical actions to restore and protect the wildlife and flora that the river sustains, but create a positive narrative of gratitude, good stewardship and love for the water as an essential element of thriving biodiversity.”