H&F Mudlarks is a project for children and their families all about helping the River Thames and Grand Union Canal in Borough. We aim to reduce plastic waste, raise awareness about pollution and help to clean up our waterways.
H&F Mudlarks III 2022
At Urbanwise.London we were please to deliver again our Mudlarks project in person at schools with support from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
We set up this projects a couple of years ago to tackle the ever increasing problem of plastic pollution in our waterways in order for school children in LBHF to learn more about this topic and take action.
Participating Schools
Yr 4 or Yr 5 Classes from Good Shepherd, Melcombe Primary, Normand Croft, Old Oak, Sulivan Primary and Wendell Park participated in the project undertaking a series of sessions, walks and workshops with Urbanwise.London staff and project partners.
Topics included reducing the use of plastic at school, cleaning up litter from the Grand Union Canal, and investigating the Thames biodiversity. Normand Croft primary pupils had the fantastic opportunity of visiting the Thames forehore by Hammersmith Bridge where the found European Eels! Did you know European Eels travel more than 5,000 miles from the Sargassum sea to our rivers?
Conference
On July 5th we held a Mudlarks children’s conference at the Hammersmith Lyric theatre attended by representatives from each school. They all had the opportunity to present their respective projects and share with other schools their discoveries.
Special thanks to all project partners and local businesses supporting the Mudlark project including: the Ardmore Group, the Canal and Rivers Trust, the English Chamber Orchestra, Riverside Studios, Western Riverside Waste Authority, Thames Estuary Partnership, Hydrasyst, and the Royal College of Art.
To read more about the conference please check this article by LBHF: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2022/07/pupils-join-forces-make-hf-cleaner-and-greener
H&F Mudlarks Summer Challenge 2020
How to Take Part in the Mudlarks Summer Challenge 2020:
1.Take a photo or short video (<1 min) of you, friends and/or family having fun outdoors or doing any of our Top 10 activities.
2.Post on social media using #mudlarksummer2020
please tag @urbanwiselondon (Twitter and Instagram).
3.Best posts/photos/videos will get a Family Nature Discovery Bag filled with goodies!
Teachers, parents, children you can watch our presentation, including the Mudlark song, here:
(CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW AND THEN PRESS PRESENT):
Mudlarks Summer Challenge presentation
A Downloadable pdf document with details of the Top 10 activities can be found here:
And a poster here:
Mudlarks Summer Challenge Poster
Stay Safe, Have fun!
A Primary Project for children aged 8 to 10 with an overall waterside theme and a focus on:
- Plastic and Waste in Hammersmith & Fulham.
- Raising awareness about water pollution.
- Cleaning up waterways.
Delivered between Jan and July 2019. For more information about the Mudlarks Project please read our project blog here and/or watch this short films: general film about the mudlarks, 3R song (by Miles Coverdale) and mudlarks schools conference 2019.
Project Aims
Activities and workshops within the school and outside environments involved Primary Children and businesses working together to explore the following topics: Water Ecology, Issues around Pollution, Art, Music, Research and Investigation and Recycling and Upcycling for Nature
Schools 
The following schools were involved in this pilot:
| Sir John Walham Green Primary School | Brackenbury Primary School | John Betts Primary School | Miles Coverdale Primary School | Avonmore Primary School |
| 2x Year 4 | 2x Year 5 | 1x Year 5 | 1x Year 5 | 1x Year 5 |
| Artistic Response Exhibition material | Grand Union Canal Plogolution
Bird feeders from plastic | Science Focus test water quality/ analyse pollutants/ microplastics | Artistic Response
Song and musical instruments | Business Focus Surveys with business/ pledge |
Note that each school has a distinct focus and one or more local businesses supports the school in achieving their output.
Partners
The following organisations were involved and helped with the delivery of the project:
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (with special thanks to their Recycling Team!)
The Royal College of Art
BBC Studios
Plogolution
Western Riverside Waste Authority
Thames 21
Lyric Theatre
The Whale Company
North End Road Market
Lilla Huset Professional Development
3BM
Thank you all for all your help and support!
Conference
On July 3rd we held a schools conference at the Lyric theatre in Hammersmith were children had the opportunity to present their project work and network with the other schools and project partners.
For more information about the Mudlarks Project please read our project blog here.