March for Clean Water, Saturday October 26th

  • Posted on: 11 September 2024
  • By: Susan
Join the march for clean water on October 26

Friends of the Cam will be joining other groups from Cambridge and across the country on October 26th  to demand clean, plentiful and healthy water in our rivers and seas for all species, including humans, and to end the profit driven pollution which drives water companies. There is a local bus with subsidised tickets (£8) - please contact us for details - or join us on the train/rail replacement service! More details of the march for clean water here. We will post local details in the run up to the march.

Demand that Anglian Water stops polluting our rivers

  • Posted on: 11 September 2024
  • By: Susan
Anglian Water dumps every plop

⁨⁩Water companies are profiting from pollution! Come and join Friends of the Cam and others participating in an afternoon of outreach and family fun demanding that Anglian Water #ActNow to stop polluting our rivers. 
 Saturday 14 September, 11.30 – 15.00
 Jesus Lock Bridge, Jesus Green by the river Cam, CB4 3BD 
 Samba lessons; block printing - bring a t-shirt; throw poos into a giant toilet; meet our super-size poos; survey board and information stall.  

 

A Meeting of Rivers

  • Posted on: 6 August 2024
  • By: Susan

Friends of the Cam is one of four groups working on the “Meeting of Rivers” programme. Its inaugural workshop is being co-hosted by the Friends of the Cam on the 19th and 20th of September at St Lukes Church, Victoria Road, Cambridge. The workshop on the 19th is free, but please book your place with Friends of the Cam. 

Pure Clean Water

  • Posted on: 23 November 2023
  • By: Susan

Friends of the Cam was delighted to host Tony Eva's award winning new film, 'Pure Clean Water', in December. The film demonstrates how the Cam and its tributaries - a rare chalk stream system - have been exploited to the brink of extinction. The film played to a full house of people who are increasingly concerned about the impact of growth on the river system, as well as on green belt land, farming and people's wellbeing in general.

Rivers, rights and masculinities - a conversation with Martin Hultman

  • Posted on: 29 August 2023
  • By: Susan

Swedish climate academic Martin Hultman was in Cambridge on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October, during which time we had an informal discussion and a walk along the river Cam. Martin was also interviewed by the Cambridge Independent in a piece: Masculinity 'weaponised' by the far right says Swedish academic ahead of Cambridge talk.

WHY FRIENDS OF THE CAM DO NOT SUPPORT A DESIGNATED BATHING AREA AT SHEEP’S GREEN

  • Posted on: 12 August 2023
  • By: Susan
The Cam at Sheep's Green

Friends of the Cam campaign for an unpolluted river, against over-abstraction from it, and the unsustainable growth in buildings and infrastructure that impact on both. Designating short stretches of rivers may lead to some very limited local improvement of water quality, at the expense of water quality elsewhere. Friends of the Cam will be opposing the DBA application in the consultation for reasons given below. You can respond to the on-line  consultation here.

About

Friends of the Cam are a Cambridge based campaigning group committed to restoring the health of the river Cam and its tributaries for the benefit of nature. We are pledged to ending pollution of the river and overabstraction linked to unsustainable growth in the area. We have developed a charter to express these commitments which we invite others to sign.

The Issues

The River Cam and its tributaries are suffering badly from over-abstraction, agricultural run-off and sewage discharge leaving them in poor condition with very low flow levels and dirty water. At the same time the area is in the midst of a dash for growth in building houses and offices which is putting further strain on natural water flow and preventing the restoration of an already depleted system.

Taking Action

We can act by constantly opposing the conditions that are wrecking the River Cam and its streams. We can spread the word, persuade others, write letters, attend policy meetings, expose the role of water companies, businesses including farms, greenwashing efforts, planning officers, Councils, monitoring agencies. We can counter the unsustainability of building and infrastructure proposals. We can strengthen alliances with all those national and local groups who act with clarity and integrity to protect our River and counter unsustainable growth. We declare the Rights of the River Cam at a public ceremony every Midsummer's day in June as a way of spreading the word and creating a network of River Defenders prepared to act to protect the River.

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