Reflections on an Extraordinary Year: From Charity Launch to Building a Movement

UK River Summit 2025

As we approach the end of 2025, I find myself reflecting on what's been an extraordinary year for The River Summit & Festival. When the Charity Commission approved our CIO status in Spring 2025, I could never have imagined how quickly this community would grow, or how much we'd achieve together.

July 8th The UK River Summit

The UK River Summit at Morden Hall on July 8th was a turning point. We sold out at 350 attendees - ministers sitting alongside citizen scientists, CEOs in conversation with grassroots activists, regulators meeting river keepers. It was everything I'd hoped it could be - a space where everyone had a voice, where unlikely partnerships formed, and where genuine solutions emerged.

What moved me most wasn't the scale, though. It was watching conversations unfold that simply wouldn't have happened anywhere else. A water company CEO listening intently to a community volunteer, a government director genuinely engaging with activists, competitors finding common ground. That's when I knew we were building something different.

To everyone who attended, spoke, volunteered, or simply showed up with open minds and generous hearts - thank you. You made that day what it was.

Testing the Waters Consortium - Collaboration in Action

One of the most exciting developments has been co-chairing the Testing the Waters Consortium with Hannah Gunter. Hannah brings a completely different skill set to mine, and together we've built something I'm genuinely proud of.

The Consortium brings together competing water technology companies to collaborate on data standards and monitoring approaches, citizen scientists to inform water companies and academics and researchers pledging to work together to fill the data gaps. When Hannah described its rapid formation as "wild and brilliant," she captured exactly what it feels like to convene people around shared purpose rather than competitive advantage.

We've held several meetings since its formation at the UK River Summit, each one revealing new opportunities for collaboration. Companies that compete in the marketplace are working together on the challenges that matter most - how do we create reliable data standards? How do we integrate citizen science with professional monitoring? How do we make water quality information accessible and actionable?

Working with Hannah has definitely been a highlight of the year. I appreciate her partnership, her expertise, and her unwavering commitment to getting this right.

Testing the Waters Consortium Meeting 4th November 2025

Partners Who Showed Up

None of this would exist without partners who believed in what we were building:

YETI - Your loyalty and support have been unwavering. Thank you for believing in this work and staying with us as we've grown.

Abel & Cole – Thank you for creating bright, beautiful food from the heart for our events.

Orvis UK - Your continued support means the world. You were there when this was just an idea, and you're still here as it becomes a movement.

James Wallace and River Action - Your counsel and support through the early stages of building the charity have been invaluable. Thank you for the partnershipLakedown Brewing Company – Thank you for providing beer for the events and an ever smiling presence.

Proteus Instruments – Proteus have supported us from the start and all the team came this year. Special thank you to Linsey and Nicky who looked after the speaker mics and water this year at the UK River Summit, freeing me up considerably.

In-Situ – In-Situ are one of the founding sponsors of Testing the Waters and we’re looking forward to co-creating a community event with them in the South West next year.

Henry Robson PR and Pete Devery - Provided invaluable PR and Communications support at the UK River Summit and had an amazing general ‘can-do, what can I do to help’ attitude’ throughout.

Collaborations Blooming

What excites me most are the projects and collaborations that have emerged from our events. I've watched

• Water companies and citizen science groups beginning genuine data-sharing partnerships

• Technology providers collaborating on standards they previously competed on

• Community groups gaining confidence to engage with regulators

• MPs and ministers listening to grassroots voices they might never have encountered

• Cross-sector working groups forming to tackle challenges no single organisation could solve alone

These aren't the outputs we measure on a spreadsheet – they are the relationships, the trust, the willingness to work differently that emerges when you create the right space for people to connect.

The UK River Summit 2025 Poster

The River as Living Entity

A founding principle of the charity is that creative expression isn't peripheral to our work - it's fundamental. When we make space for art, music, storytelling, and simply being present by the water alongside the data and policy discussions, people show up differently. The river becomes not just infrastructure to manage, but a living entity that connects us all.

This perspective aligns with the growing river guardian movement and the Rights of the River conversations happening globally. When we honour the river as something more than a resource - when we create space for both the analytical and the spiritual, the technical and the creative - solutions emerge that no single discipline could create alone.

This isn't just poetic language. It's what makes genuine collaboration possible. And it will remain at the heart of everything we build.

Building Something Bigger

The response we've had as we look ahead to 2026 has been extraordinary. People are stepping forward - offering financial support, expertise, partnerships - because they can see what's possible when we work differently.

We're scaling the flagship River Summit into a two-day event that will bring together policy, industry, communities, artists, and youth in ways that simply haven't been done before. The support we're receiving is allowing us to be ambitious - to create something genuinely impactful that sets a new standard for how the water sector collaborates.

This feels like a pivotal moment. People want to be part of building this. And honestly, the energy around what we're creating for the year ahead is unlike anything I've experienced.

If you've been watching from the sidelines, now's the time to get involved. This movement is accelerating, and everyone is welcome.

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2025, we're evolving. The work is expanding beyond events into creating permanent infrastructure for cross-sector collaboration. We're exploring how to bring the creative, spiritual heart of our work - the elements that talk to people on a level policy and data alone cannot reach - into communities across the country.

There's exciting work ahead, and I can't wait to share more in the new year.

Thank You

To everyone who's been part of this journey - whether you attended an event, joined the TTW Consortium, became sponsors, offered advice, made an introduction, or simply believed this was possible - thank you.

I'm ending the year grateful, energised, and more convinced than ever that when we work together - with both rigour and heart - transformation is possible.

Here's to 2026 and to everyone who's helping build a movement proving that unlikely partnerships, genuine collaboration, and shared purpose can change how we approach the challenges that matter most.

Thank you, Claire