A Holistic Approach to River Guardianship

Our work flows through three connected pathways, practical restoration on the ground, legal protection in policy and practice, and a sacred reconnection that restores reverence to our relationship with water.

Our Story

Practical

Taking hands-on action to restore and protect the River Medway.

  • We work alongside farmers and landowners to implement regenerative practices, restoring soils, planting native vegetation, and managing land sustainably to support a thriving River.

  • Through the Ripple Effect Project, we involve local people in monitoring water quality and identifying pollution sources. By combining scientific data with careful observation of the River, we respond to her unique needs. [Learn more or get involved here]

    science and data, whilst also listening to nature.

    Educate through Hands-On Experiences

    We run workshops, talks, and interactive activities that connect people of all ages with ecology, conservation, and their role as river guardians. While tackling pollution at a systemic level, we also empower individuals with practical, actionable steps, showing how to make small changes — like using non-toxic cleaning products, choosing affordable organic options, or avoiding harmful pet treatments — so that people can put these solutions into practice in their everyday lives.

  • Community involvement is at the heart of our work: without the energy and enthusiasm of the local people, our group would not have formed.

    We wish to involve all members of the community - from children to elders - and harness our collective energy into positive action, reviving the ancient practice of caring for our rivers.

  • We support the River’s own healing by encouraging the planting of native trees, rebuilding wetlands, and reintroducing keystone species such as water voles and beavers. After all, the River carries her own remedies; we just need to nurture them.

Legal

Using the law to protect and restore the River Medway.

  • Rights of Rivers

    Inspired by the global Rights of Nature movement, we aim to secure fundamental legal rights for the River Medway. But we don’t wait for laws to catch up: we act now. By serving as River Guardians and caring for the River in ways that respect her rights, we put these principles into practice today. Read more about the rights we wish to secure here and explore the broader Rights of Rivers approach here.

    • The Right to Flow

    • The Right to Perform Essential Ecosystem Functions

    • The Right to Be Free from Pollution

    • The Right to Feed and Be Fed by Sustainable Aquifers

    • The Right to Native Biodiversity

    • The Right to Regeneration and Restoration

    • The Right to Maintain Connectivity

  • For too long, nature has been treated as an object of rights rather than a living subject. We believe rivers — and all ecosystems — should have rights of their own. The Rights of Nature movement is founded on the principle that nature can be considered a legal person, with legal standing and protections. If companies and charities can hold rights, why not rivers, which are living, dynamic ecosystems?

    Around the world, from New Zealand to Ecuador, rivers have been granted rights through pressure from indigenous communities defending their lands. Though our own indigenous connections were disrupted long ago, we can still take up the mantle of protectorship, advocating for the River Medway and ensuring her wellbeing.

    The good news is, we don’t have to wait for the government to act. By caring for the River and practicing guardianship, we can honour her rights today. Every action — from removing litter to planting trees along her banks — supports her right to regeneration, restoration, and life itself.

    Becoming a Guardian is simple: decide to care for the River, then act. Each step, however small, bridges theory and practice. By acting in accordance with the River’s rights, we shift perspective: seeing her not as a resource to exploit, but as a living ecosystem deserving protection, respect, and love.

  • We prioritise collaboration over confrontation when protecting the environment, but believe that polluters must still be held accountable. Existing laws address many forms of pollution, yet they are rarely enforced. Our goal is to ensure these regulations are applied effectively while working proactively to prevent pollution before it occurs.

Sacred

Connecting with the River Medway through reverence, listening, and care.

  • Our Sacred work is guided by the intention to seek, in friendship, connection to the energy of the River Medway — to both listen and to remember the deep wisdom that flows within her waters so that we might be informed by them and respond to them with our guardianship and loving care.

    The ancient peoples of these lands once had a vibrant relationship with the river and to them water was not only life but was also alive — they revered the river as a sacred being flowing in a living and sacred landscape.

    ‍

    These communities lived in far greater unity with each other and with the natural world around them than our communities of today – seeing all human life as being within a greater unity of the living body of their world. Everything had a place in the destiny of all and nothing could exist without everything else. They understood that how we treat something outside of our own self is indicative of how we treat ourselves and our loved ones.

    ‍

    All water sites, whether natural springs, lakes or rivers were held in loving sacredness and gratitude by the people, and they were tended and celebrated throughout the solar year in ceremony and in festival.

    ‍

    In our modern world, until recently, water, like so much of the living body of the earth, has come to be regarded as just another resource separate from our own selves to be used at will and available on tap. We have become disconnected from the source and the flow of these water bodies and have moved into an overall separateness from our living environment.

    ‍

    Now as we all begin to realise how our own and previous generations actions have affected the waters of the planet and the waters within our own community, we can feel within ourselves an inner urging to take action. Friends of the River Medway has come into being in response to this growing feeling and we seek to both support and enable all those who wish to return to loving care and guardianship of the great treasure that is this magnificent body of water.

    Understanding that there has not been an environment that supports this in our modern culture, we seek to remember and revive the ancient ways in which humans interacted, listened and gave thanks in celebration of the waters, and recognise that there is a deep need within many to return to the loving guardianship, honouring and recognition of our waterways. We seek to reinstate these ways as the norm, nurturing a relationship based on connection, reverence and gratitude.

  • We cultivate friendship and connection with the River’s energy, tuning in to her wisdom so we can respond with guardianship and loving care.

  • Festivals

    The peoples who lived on these lands revered rivers as living beings, celebrating them through ceremony and festival. They understood that all life is interconnected and that how we treat the world reflects how we treat ourselves and others. We aim to revive these ancient practices, bringing reverence, gratitude, and care back to our relationship with water. In this spirit, we organise festivals that honour different water sites, inviting joy, celebration, and a deeper connection with the sacred waters.

  • Through gentle ceremony and practice, we offer spaces where individuals can learn to listen, remember, and deepen their connection to the waters. These ceremonies also allow people to explore their unique gifts and bring them forward in service, support, and healing.

    Read more about the Purpose of Ceremony here and Ceremony etiquette here.

  • Creative Expression

    We encourage creative expression as a way to connect with the River — through art, writing, film, music, or other mediums that celebrates her sacred essence.

  • We invite everyone who has a feeling, a calling, or a connection to the sacredness of the waters of the River Medway to participate in service and connection to the Waters regardless of background, faith, age, or ability. We seek to support everyone to find what it is that sparks the sacred within them, what sparks loving awareness, and what inspires loving care for our waters and our planet, as it is each of our unique abilities that will manifest real and effective change. In this, we offer a focal point of warm inclusion where all, including the quiet, retiring, solitary and those who work in the ‘quiet ways’, can be an integral part of our work through intention, prayer and practice.