Help Us Grow Clean River Action: Volunteer Roles That Can Make a Real Difference
Clean River Action has achieved a huge amount through the dedication of local volunteers and a shared commitment to protecting our waterways. As our work continues to expand, we're looking to spread responsibilities across a wider team to make our efforts more sustainable and effective.
Whether you can spare an hour a week or would like to take on a more active role, there are several opportunities to get involved and make a genuine impact.
1. Volunteer Coordinator
The person who keeps our testing sessions running smoothly.
Purpose: Ensure volunteers know where to be, when to be there, and what they're doing.
Key tasks:
Maintain the rota for weekly testing
Send reminders and confirm attendance
Send testing information sheets
Record who tested where and when
Flag any gaps or issues to Testing Lead
Skills needed: Organised, reliable and a good communicator.
Time commitment: Approximately 1-2 hours per week.
Impact: Takes care of scheduling, volunteer coordination and attendance management, ensuring testing runs consistently each week.
2. Testing Lead
The operational lead for our citizen science testing programme.
Purpose: Oversee testing activities and ensure data collection happens smoothly and safely.
Key tasks:
Train new volunteers in testing and safe sampling techniques
Coordinate testing sessions
Check results for completeness before passing them to the Data Manager
Flag unusual results or potential pollution indicators
Skills needed: Practical, confident outdoors and calm under pressure.
Time commitment: Approximately 2-3 hours per week.
Impact: Provides leadership in the field and ensures high-quality monitoring without relying on a single individual.
3. EIR Support Officer
Helping us maintain pressure for transparency and accountability.
Purpose: Support the preparation and management of Environmental Information Requests (EIRs).
Key tasks:
Draft EIRs based on agreed priorities
Track deadlines and responses
Log correspondence with organisations such as the Environment Agency, Ofwat and Severn Trent
Prepare follow-up letters and document bundles
Maintain a simple EIR tracking dashboard
Skills needed: Organised, comfortable with formal written communication and attention to detail.
Time commitment: Approximately 1-2 hours per week.
Impact: Ensures requests and responses are properly managed, helping us maintain a consistent evidence base for our work.
4. Communications Assistant
Keeping our community informed and engaged.
Purpose: Manage day-to-day communications so messages continue reaching local supporters.
Key tasks:
Draft social media updates for Facebook and Instagram
Respond to routine comments and questions
Create simple graphics and photo posts
Share testing results once approved
Support engagement in local community groups, including Knighton Park
Skills needed: Friendly, confident communicator with basic social media skills.
Time commitment: Approximately 1-2 hours per week.
Impact: Keeps the community connected to our work and helps build awareness of river health issues.
5. Data Manager
Turning testing results into useful evidence.
Purpose: Keep environmental data organised, accurate and accessible.
Key tasks:
Enter weekly testing results into shared spreadsheets
Check for missing or inconsistent information
Maintain charts, summaries and trends
Prepare monthly data snapshots
Organise photographs and supporting evidence
Skills needed: Detail-oriented and comfortable using spreadsheets.
Time commitment: Approximately 1 hour per week.
Impact: Ensures our evidence is reliable, easy to access and ready for reporting or campaigning.
Working Together
These roles create a simple and efficient flow of information and activity:
Volunteers → Volunteer Coordinator → Testing Lead → Data Manager → Communications Assistant
EIR Support Officer → Clean River Action Leadership
This structure allows responsibilities to be shared while ensuring the right information reaches the right people. It also helps prevent volunteer burnout and creates a stronger, more resilient organisation.
If you'd like to play an active role in protecting our rivers and streams, we'd love to hear from you. Whether you're organised, hands-on, analytical or creative, there's a place for you in Clean River Action, simply drop us a message below.
Together, we can build a bigger team and a stronger voice for our waterways.
Sarah
Clean River Action Founder