Raising awareness of the plight of Britain’s rivers

River Action

Seahorse has been an integral part of the River Action project since its inception. From helping recruit a world class advisory board, making a significant input into the communications strategies around our various campaigns – to then engaging with our key stakeholder groups across the media, political and NGO– Seahorse's connectivity has been a huge asset. Given River Action is essentially a “virtual” organisation – with no full-time staff or infrastructure – Seahorse has also provided us with some outstanding resources – from drafting, monitoring and generally coordinating the large number of parties we now have involved. In summary, it would be fair to say that without their connections and capabilities it is difficult to see how we could have launched River Action at the time we did and had the impact we have so far achieved.

Charles Watson, River Action Founder and Chairman

Agriculture | Water | Campaigns strategy | Political engagement | PR 


Context

River Action is on a mission to rescue Britain’s rivers by raising awareness of river pollution and applying pressure to polluters, including industrial and agricultural producers and water companies.

Our activity

Seahorse has played a significant role in supporting River Action since its inception, convening its advisory board, delivering its launch, developing campaign strategies to increase public awareness of the plight of our rivers and helping River Action engage across the media, politics and NGO landscapes. This has involved engaging and collaborating with NGOs, local campaigners, the media, politicians and calling out target polluters.

Seahorse helped run the ‘Give Us Back Our Rivers campaign’ to address the collapse of environmental protection in the UK, securing more than 30 pieces of media coverage, as well as political engagement across Government Departments. We launched a petition for increased spending for regulatory agencies, securing 65,000 signatures. 

Most recently, we supported River Action in the launch of the ‘Charter for Rivers’. We convened a widespread group of stakeholders and experts to get their input and secure their endorsement for the Charter and supported the launch of the Charter in Parliament. 

Our impact

Seahorse has helped River Action identify and build its unique role in the wider environment sector, become an established brand and a leading voice drawing attention to the declining state of the UK’s rivers. Cross-party MPs and Peers have demonstrated their support for healthy rivers. Our support resulted in one of Britain's largest poultry processors accepting culpability and committing to reduce its pollution on the River Wye.

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