Adventurer Ed Pratt has completed a solo mission to travel the length of the River Thames from source to sea. He recorded a daily video…
Access and Environment
Ed Pratt’s source to sea paddling challenge
Adventurer Ed Pratt has completed a solo mission to travel the length of the River Thames from source to sea. He recorded a daily video about his trek on Youtube and raised about £22,000 in…
Paris 2024: Athletes on environmental sustainability
Our Olympians and Paralympians understand the issues facing paddlers in our blue spaces. They also know why it’s important to leave a lasting legacy for future generations. Olympic gold medalist Joe Clarke MBE and Olympian…
Paddle UK host Chris Boardman and Pedal for Paris
Paddle UK hosted a team of cyclists, including Chris Boardman, the former Olympic champion and chair of Sport England, as part of Pedal for Paris. The Sport England challenge is aiming to highlight inspirational and…
New government, what next for water quality and access?
Ben Seal, Head of Access and Environment at Paddle UK, talks about what might lie ahead for paddlers in the next five years following the General Election. Now the waters have calmed, what is…
Big Paddle Clean-up: Record number of volunteers take part
It has been another brilliant year for the Big Paddle Clean-up with a record number of people taking part – thank you! The Big Paddle Clean-up, which ran from 25 May to 9 June, engaged…
The Paddlers’ Code and protecting wildlife
During the summer months we should remember the Paddlers' Code – particularly when it comes protecting wildlife. Salmon, for example, are a species that are struggling due to pollution in areas where they live and…
Liberal Democrats push for ‘important access to nature’
The Liberal Democrats have one of the boldest visions for the environment and the public’s access to it. They want to explore a ‘right to roam’ for waterways and create a new designation of National…
Labour is ‘committed to expanding access to sport and nature’
The Shadow Sports Minister, Stephanie Peacock, said Labour is “committed to expanding access to sport and nature rich habitats”. Ms Peacock, who represents Barnsley East and has held the Shadow Minister for Sport brief since…
Do party manifestos pass the test for paddlers?
The UK's political parties have announced their manifestos ahead of the General Election on 4 July. The plans to tackle the most relevant issues to the paddling community are highlighted below (in alphabetical order). Conservatives…
Clearing invasive species from places to paddle
The spread of floating pennywort is a continuing problem in our rivers and canals. Volunteers have been tackling this invasive species and manage clear access to the local waterways they love. A number of events,…
Big Paddle Clean-up flagship event held in Leeds
About 40 members of the White Rose Canoe Club cleared a stretch of the Aire & Calder Navigation, in Leeds, on 1 June, as part of the Big Paddle Clean-up. The volunteers filled 30 sacks…
General Election is a ‘chance to be heard’
Unless you've been on a very long paddle, you'll have heard there's going to be a General Election. This means Paddle UK has several weeks to get our collective message across to every party and…
The Big Paddle Clean-up returns for 2024
More than 1,400 Big Paddle Clean-up kits have been issued to the paddling community ready for two weeks of action to clear up blue spaces across the UK. In 2023, over 2,600 paddlers took part…
How to help tackle invasive non-native species
Paddlers can play a vital role in keeping our waters free of harmful species. Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) are plants and animals introduced into an area outside of their natural habitat. Most come from different…
Paddle UK partners with Bio-Mate to tackle INNS
Paddle UK is partnering with Bio-Mate to raise awareness and help protect our blue spaces from Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS). As part of the partnership, Paddle UK members will get an exclusive 15% discount on…
Paddle UK welcomes Sport England’s Every Move plan
Sport England has announced major investment to help the sport and physical activity sector respond to climate change. The £45m package of new National Lottery funding will be used to help more people get active…
New places to paddle at river bathing sites
It has been announced that England will have 27 new monitored bathing sites, most of them on rivers, benefiting paddlers and swimmers. It means the areas will have summer pollution testing conducted by the Environment…
Big Paddle Cleanup flagship event host chosen
White Rose Canoe Club, in Leeds, will host this year's Big Paddle Cleanup flagship event. ERDINGER Alkoholfrei will support their cleanup by providing refreshments and goodies for their volunteers, on 1 June 2024. Last year…
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