COMMUNITY campaigners are organising action for World Rivers Day later this year.

Wyre Forest people who have come together under CARP (Community Action against River Pollution) will be arranging events in advance and on the awareness day on Sunday, September 22.

The run-up will include poster and poetry competitions, which are to involve children, teenagers and adults, for which details will be available later.

The group will also share what its citizen science project has found out through demonstrations and talks about water quality and other changes in the River Severn, which runs through Bewdley and Stourport, that have happened over the last decade or two.

Roger Meade, co-ordinator of Wyre Forest Friends of the Earth, said: “With a change of government we have the chance to develop a new approach to get improvements in the state of our river.

“In the local election both the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates pledged their support to cleaning it up and we will expect no less from our long-standing Member of Parliament (Mark Garnier) after a very closely-contested outcome.

“It has been proven many times that if we, the people, want change beyond what our representatives are prepared to give we have to repeatedly put the argument and demand action.

“That is an uphill struggle but it will be worth it. That is what CARP is all about!”

Millions of people in more than 100 countries participate in World Rivers Day on the fourth Sunday of every September.

In 2005 the United Nations launched the Water for Life Decade which was to help create a greater awareness of the need to better care for water resources.

Following this, the establishment of World Rivers Day was in response to a proposal initiated by internationally-renowned river advocate Mark Angelo.

Originally coming together under Transition Bewdley and Wyre Forest Friends of the Earth, CARP is made up of Wyre Forest people from angling, wild swimming, nature conservation, wetland ecology, rowing and amenity.

It progresses through four main strands — campaigning, water chemistry, invertebrates and plants as indicators of healthy water.

CARP aims to achieve good ecological status in its stretch of the Severn though it is also conscious that conditions in watercourses feeding the big river, such as the Stour and Dowles Brook, also remain important.

It bids to provide an evidential base to underpin what it asks for as well as holding events to reach a wider public.

The current state of the river is symbolised by Gilbert, the ‘plastic’ human skeleton, which is displayed widely in the district to capture attention.

Anyone who would like to join CARP or know more about its activities is asked to email severncarp123@gmail.com.