John Glen attends community river rescue

Yesterday evening (2nd September), the Community Resilience Team from Serve On Salisbury cleared the River Avon of litter and debris in aid of the local community and the environment.

The two teams worked from 7pm until 9pm, starting in The Maltings and working their way up two tributaries of the river from the Bishops Mill pub to Mill Stream Approach.

The team, which was made up of volunteers, were fully kitted out in PPE and drew upon their skills in water and flood rescue training to execute the task safely.

Among the items fished out of the river were bicycles, shopping trolleys, and a bed frame. The debris was left in piles for the council to pick up in the morning.

The team were delighted to be joined by John Glen MP, Cllr Sven Hocking, and Lynne Davies from Salisbury City Council, who contributed to the clean-up efforts.

Speaking to Love Salisbury, John Glen said, “I am a huge fan of ServeOn – both their specialist rescue and disaster recovery work, and their burgeoning portfolio of community projects.

“For them to be willing to help the local environment in this way by putting their incredible skills to good use – all while training up their brilliant volunteers – is a win for everyone.

“We are fortunate to have such a wonderful organisation headquartered in our area and I will be looking forward to connecting with them on future local projects, and hopefully getting the chance to be more hands-on next time!”

Barrie Sinclair-Kemp, Community Resilience Team Manager, said: “We are always more than happy to assist our local community with tasks such as this, to help create a better environment for local wildlife and residents.”

Salisbury’s Community Resilience Team will be back in action next Thursday to clean a new section of the River Avon.