Raving Up To York To Save Our Rivers

Watching swimmers, artists, scientists and campaigners in Bristol connect with their river made me realise that perhaps the first step wasn’t campaigning or policy change. It was simply putting my body in the water.

I love this refection from Helen, co-founder of York's new river community group Ouse It Or Loose It. I was invited by Helen to come for a swim and join the Q&A after a screening of Rave On For The Avon  hosted by York's Festival of Ideas.

Thank you to David Morris for these lovely photos of our swim

Rave On For The Avon is an independent wild swimming documentary that’s explores a community’s fight to save their bathing spot in unique, daring & distinctly Bristol ways. 💙✨🪩🎬🏞️🍿🦦 It’s a universal story of how people find ways to connect to rivers in our modern world and how local communities turn creativity and citizen science into a weapon against sewage pollution. You can watch the film online via our website or host a community screening as a way to gather your local community and celebreate our shared love for rivers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V84OmOUIoG4

It was the second time our film has screened in York and it turns out the first screening was a catalyst for an exciting new community group for the gorgeous River Ouse.

The event was so inspiring and I loved hearing co-founders of Ouse It or Lose It Emilie's and Helen's stories (pictured either side of me). Emilie shared puts it simply but so clearly;

We’re showing up at and for the Ouse and the different people who use it. We all want it to be a clean river.

Before the film screened Helen shared her journey from concerned citizen to joyful river-guardian. On the screen as she spoke her was an image of the River Ouse in York from the past full of paddlers and swimmers enjoying the river. Today it's a different story.

"I first saw Rave On For The Avon at the Picturehouse in York in September 2025. At the time, I had been worried about the state of the River Ouse. I live close to the river and was very aware of all the stories about pollution, sewage, flooding and safety.

The problem felt huge and complicated, and I didn’t really know where to start.

Then, during the film, a lightbulb went on. I realised that what I needed to do was really simple: I just needed to get in. The film challenged an assumption that I hadn’t even realised I had taken on: that the Ouse was somehow not for swimming in. That it was dirty, dangerous and off-limits.

Watching swimmers, artists, scientists and campaigners in Bristol reconnect with their river made me realise that perhaps the first step wasn’t campaigning or policy change. It was simply putting my body in the water.

A few weeks later, Emilie and I did our first swim from Blue Bridge. We were both nervous and had told ourselves we’d probably only go in up to our knees. Beforehand, I’d spent quite a lot of time reading, asking questions and talking to people about risks and water quality. One thing I discovered was that there was very little publicly available data about the Ouse. In fact, there had been no regular public testing since 2022. In the end, I concluded that while there were risks, it was safe enough for me provided we took sensible precautions and paid attention to conditions.

That first swim was a significant moment. The river wasn’t magically clean, and it wasn’t always pleasant. Sometimes there would be an oil slick; but there might also be swans, cormorants and the occasional kingfisher, and always moments of joy. Since then, that single decision has grown into regular swims, citizen science monitoring and ultimately Ouse It or Lose It.

Paddle Out Protest images courtesy of Luke Lambert & George Sheader

The York Paddle Out Protest, organised as part of the national Surfers Against Sewage Paddle Out campaign, was a significant moment for Ouse It or Lose It. Hundreds of people gathered on and beside the Ouse to call for cleaner rivers, ending with a dip at Blue Bridge. The event demonstrated the strength and diversity of York’s river community. Swimmers, paddlers, rowers, environmental groups, families and local residents all came together around a shared concern for the future of the river. For us, it helped crystallise the idea that improving the Ouse is not just about water quality, but about strengthening people’s relationship with the river itself.

Paddle Out Protest images courtesy of Luke Lambert & George Sheader

The Paddle Out also helped connect us with a growing network of organisations and individuals working on river issues locally and nationally, including Surfers Against Sewage. Many of the conversations, partnerships and ideas that are now shaping Ouse It or Lose It, from citizen science water testing to wider discussions about York’s future as a river city can be traced back to connections made during and around that day.

At its heart is the same idea that inspired me when I watched the film:

if we want people to care about the Ouse, we need to help them imagine a different relationship with it.

For me, Rave On For The Avon didn’t just change how I thought about rivers. It changed what I did."

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Thank you Emilie and Helen for a lovely swim in your gorgeous river and for inspiring me to keep making films that celebrate our connection to rivers and the creativity and community that can be found in fighting to protect them.

Here are some photos from our joyful swim in the Ouse. I hope you and your community continues to move forward with joy, creativity and those incredible moments swimming in your beautiful river.

Thank you to David Morris for these lovely photos of our swim