It’s said electricity and water shouldn’t mix but that isn’t the case when our latest ‘Proud to Support’ donor called in to find out more about our work.
Ian Day, manager for Stearn Electric’s Exeter branch (pictured on left), met up with our CEO Dr Laurence Couldrick in early November to discover how the company’s contribution will support our freshwater conservation charity.
Challenges facing freshwater environments
On a walk to a stream near our offices in Stoke Climsland, Laurence explained the Trust’s diversity of projects, the challenges our waterways may face, and how people can get actively involved to improve river health.
“Having the support of local businesses helps us to deliver a wide remit of freshwater environment interventions”, Laurence said.
“Financial donations can help us deliver riverine benefits where needed, but it’s great to know that Ian’s team may be able to provide volunteer support too with community activities such as litter picks or nature-based solutions such as tree planting.”
During the stroll, the pair managed to avoid the rain that had rolled in earlier in the day, although it provided inspiration to illustrate how our rivers are affected by issues such as climate change, agricultural/road run-off or sewage inputs after heavy downpours.
Getting involved
Ian said: “Learning about many differing impacts on our rivers has been an eye opener.
“From the historical issues underpinning our modern-day sewage system to how citizen science water quality monitoring is gathering much-needed data that could affect policy change, I’m suitably impressed by the effort everyone at the Trust puts into the day-to-day business of restoring and protecting our rivers.
“I’m keen for the Stearn Electric Exeter team to get involved with some hands-on events helping nature out and look forward to building our relationship with the Westcountry Rivers Trust.”
Find out more
Stearn Electric is a Super Distributor to the UK’s electrical industry’s wholesale trade, and specialist distributor to many other specialist and service dependant markets. Its Environmental Policy can be seen on its website. The company will celebrate 100 years in business in 2024. Find out more at https://www.stearn.co.uk/
