East Mercia Rivers Trust

The Allerton Project are proud to act as the base for the East Mercia Rivers Trust, an independent charity formed in October 2022 following the merger of Welland Rivers Trust and Lincolnshire Rivers Trust.  East Mercia Rivers Trust covers the Witham and Welland river catchments with the aim of bringing rivers back to life for nature and communities.

East Mercia Rivers Trust’s aims

Rivers support life, they provide homes for some of the UK’s most endangered and celebrated wildlife such as water voles, otters and kingfishers. They supply water for drinking, irrigation and industry, control flooding and are a much valued recreation source, from fishing to wild swimming. However, no river in England is classed as healthy, most suffer from over abstraction, pollution and biodiversity loss. Read the latest State of Our Rivers Report.

Our Resilient Rivers Programme aims to create and protect healthy, clean, and resilient watercourses by:

  • restoring and enhancing habitats
  • increasing natural water storage
  • Improving water quality
  • controlling and removing invasive species

Our Rivers for Life Programme aims to inspire local communities, landowners, businesses, and recreational river-users to act for rivers by:

  • building data and evidence
  • delivering educational activities and advisory services
  • improving access to nature
  • raising awareness

Welland Valley Partnership

East Mercia Rivers Trust hosts the Welland Valley Partnership (WVP), a collaboration of organisations that share the aspirations of the Trust and are active in land and water management in the river catchment. The WVP is currently chaired by the Allerton Project’s Head of Research, Prof. Chris Stoate.

Latest Research:

Have a look at the latest research on optimising phosphorus use in the Welland river basin.