Learn how to apply for bathing status for your local river

As part of an exciting campaign for bathing waters, The Rivers Trust and Surfers Against Sewage are hosting a webinar on 28 February for communities interested in applying for river bathing status

The Rivers Trust (RT) and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are teaming together on a webinar to support communities wishing to apply for bathing status on their local river.

The introductory webinar takes place on 28 February at 9.30am. The webinar is aimed at local authorities, landowners, NGOs and community groups interested in submitting applications for river bathing status.

An expert panel

Speakers at the webinar will include those who have been involved in successful applications, as well as some who are just beginning the process.

Since 2020, two sites in England have been officially designated as bathing sites: part of the River Wharfe at Ilkley and a stretch of the River Thames at Port Meadow, Oxford. There is a campaign – backed by Blueprint for Water – to increase the number of bathing sites to 200 sites by 2030.

Useful resources

In a bid to reach this target and support communities apply for river bathing status, the following resources are available:

• A Surfers Against Sewage toolkit to guide communities through the applications process.
• A River Bathing Waters Knowledge Hub. This is a Slack discussion forum where people can connect with others, ask questions of RT and SAS, and search for information and guidance.
• A River Bathing Sites Map. The map lists over 400 sites where people swim or paddle in rivers, including an indication of where people are applying for bathing water status.

SAS have also relaunched their website including a dedicated section around bathing water designation.

The introductory webinar ‘Designating Your River Bathing Water’ takes place 28 February 2023, 9.30am. To register click here.

The event will be recorded and more webinars will take place over the coming months.