Former Olympic rower Andrew Triggs-Hodge to launch festival to get people involved in activities on the water

The Foreshore Festival, organised by triple-Olympic gold medallist Andrew Triggs-Hodge, will be held at Putney Embankment on 23 September.

With a variety of activities on offer, visitors will be able to try their feet at stand-up paddle boarding with Active360, find out about the health of the River Thames with environmental charity Thames21 and browse stalls hosted by local businesses.

The RNLI and PLA will also be there to talk about river safety, and rowing taster sessions with London Youth Rowing will be on offer.

The free event, from 10am-4pm, is being supported by Tideway, who are building a new super sewer to tackle sewage pollution in the River Thames. It is part of September’s Totally Thames festival, a month-long celebration of the river.

Mr Triggs-Hodge, (pictured above) who now works at Tideway as a project manager, said: “The festival is about getting people connected with the River Thames, to see the awesome activities it has to offer and to find out how organisations across London are working to protect it.

“Tideway’s new tunnel will not only bring huge benefits to the environment, but also the lives of river users. Anyone who enjoys the river can have confidence that its future is being looked after. I hope the festival helps people see the full recreational potential of a cleaner, healthier river.”

The event is also being supported by Positively Putney, the Business Improvement District in the area. Nicola Grant from Positively Putney said: “We have been set up to make Putney a better place to live, work and shop. The river has an important part to play for life in Putney, it is for this reason that we are supporting the foreshore festival. We are very much looking forward to the day.”

Chris Coode, Deputy Chief Executive at Thames21, said: “We’re really excited to be involved in this new Foreshore Festival. It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity to engage with not just the rowing fraternity but the wider community to show people the challenges faced by the River Thames and what ordinary Londoners can do to help.

“Over the years, Thames21 has developed its work well past the point of just clearing up rubbish. For several years, we have been analysing the types of litter that are washed up along its foreshore in order to inspire people to change their behaviour.”

Tideway is the organisation delivering the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 25km sewer tunnel urgently required to tackle sewage pollution in the tidal River Thames.

In total the project is expected to create 4,000 direct sustainable jobs. One in every 50 site jobs will be an apprenticeship.

For more information about the festival, visit www.facebook.com/TidewayLondon

For more information about Tideway, visit www.tideway.london


September 8, 2017