Hollyoaks and X Factor stars to litter pick banks of River Derwent as part of the Big Derby Clean Up 2024

Stars from the world of television and sport are set to show love and support for Derby at The Big Derby Clean Up event this month. 

Hollyoaks actress Tina Harris, who also starred in Happy Valley and lives in the Midlands, will be at the event on Wednesday March 20. 

Other high profile attendees are Max McMurdo from Channel 4's Amazing Spaces and Tool Club, former X Factor contestant Russell Jones and former Team GB hurdler and Commonwealth Games medallist Will Sharman.

They have all volunteered their help on the day.

They will join students, campaigners and a whole host of volunteers to help rid the River Derwent of thousands of items of discarded plastic left littering its banks following the flooding caused by Storm Babet.

Around 150 people are expected to take part in The Big Derby Clean Up event which aims to clear the rubbish from the banks and immediate vicinity of the river around the Museum of Making, the River Gardens and Bass Recreation Ground.

The event is being jointly organised by the University of Derby, Derby College and Think Ocean, a city-based community interest company which campaigns to raise awareness of the damage being done to the marine environment by the millions of tonnes of discarded plastic that ends up in the sea each year.

Organisers also want to work with members of local canoe clubs to retrieve plastic from the river itself and are also looking for businesses to sponsor equipment or funds to buy gloves, litter pickers and high-visibility vests. 

While the event is designed to clean up the river and its vicinity, Think Ocean is hoping the event will highlight how the vast majority of the plastic currently littering the world’s oceans originated from inland, having been washed into rivers which then flow into the sea.

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There is no better way to illustrate this, the group’s co-founder, Hugo Valdes-Vera says, than looking at the legacy of last October, when Storm Babet caused the River Derwent to flood, leaving plastic rubbish hanging in trees and trapped in the undergrowth once the high waters had subsided. 

He said: “As a community, we recognise the urgency of addressing river plastic pollution, especially following the aftermath of Storm Babet, which serves as a stark reminder of the scale of the problem.

“One day, because the river water eventually flows into the North Sea, that rubbish will eventually end up in the oceans, like millions of tonnes of ocean-going plastic that starts out being thrown away many miles inland.

“We won’t be able to collect everything and we know this is just a small part of a global problem, but we’re very pleased to be teaming up with the University of Derby and Derby College and are grateful that so many people have agreed to take part in the Big Derby Clean-Up.”

Liz Thompson, environment and sustainability manager at the University of Derby, said: “We are delighted to be supporting this event, which is a great opportunity for our students to work with the local community in Derby and help make our city a better place to live and study. 

“Plastic pollution is one of the many threats facing our oceans, and research at the University is supporting efforts to protect marine wildlife through projects such as our coral reef research.”

Think Ocean has six team members, operating globally, advocating for environmental conservation and spearheading initiatives to mitigate plastic pollution. 

Last year it was awarded a grant from the European Commission’s Horizon Europe project to develop a device which can scoop thousands of tonnes of plastic waste from river waters in order to prevent it from ever reaching the oceans. 

Anyone who wants to find out more or make a donation should visit the the Just Giving page by clicking here.