Cardiff Canoe Club makes an early start to The #BigPaddleCleanup

We're so pleased to hear from Cardiff Canoe Club about their paddle cleanup on the River Taff. Technically, it was 6 days before The Big Paddle Cleanup was due to start, but pollution doesn't have a calendar, and the early bird catches the... shopping trolley?! It sounds like this stretch of river was in dire need of a clean, and the club got more rubbish than they bargained for. Here's an update from club members about how the cleanup went...

"Early yesterday morning, 14 members of Cardiff Canoe Club met for a river cleanup on the Taff in Pontypridd

We accessed the river just below the bridge connecting Llys Cadwyn and Ynysangharad War Memorial Park. 

Starting out by collecting litter along the bank and wading in shallow water to remove larger obstacles like scaffolding poles and shopping trolleys, we eventually split into several groups. The majority of club members collected from the water, following the river to the confluence of the Taff and the Rhondda, whilst a small group carried on alongside the riverbank through the park.

Unfortunately, we came across so much rubbish that the river team had to ferry back up river to the get-in several times to drop off bags and debris before carrying on downriver. Once both teams were reunited below the river confluence, we set about collecting more litter on both sides of the riverbank, clearing a long standing obstacle in the centre of the flow that kept accumulating new flotsam and jetsam with every flood and finally moving all our bounty to higher ground so the council would be able to collect it.

We're very grateful to our volunteers, to Stu3 Ltd. for sponsoring us today, to Canŵ Cymru / Canoe Wales for providing us with the litter picking equipment (even though we're a bit early for the Big Paddle Cleanup) and to Pontypridd Town Council for providing council waste bags and coordinating refuse pick-up."

A huge thank you from the team at Canoe Wales to Cardiff Canoe Club for organising this clean-up, to all the volunteers who gave their time and support, and to Pontypridd Town Council for their assistance with rubbish collection. It's a fantastic start to the 2022 Big Paddle Cleanup!

The Big Paddle Cleanup officially starts on Saturday 4 June and runs till Sunday 12 June.

Find out how to get involved - bit.ly/bigpaddlecleanup