Love Our Rother 2025 takes place on Saturday February 15 from 11am – 3am with a chance for people in Rye to discover more about the local environment. This year the theme is Water with experts on hand to answer questions and provide information. People are also being asked to bring water samples to get tested to measure the health of local rivers.
Love Our Rother 2025 will take place at Tilling Green Community Centre on Mason Road. Groups taking part include Strandliners, Young Strandliners, Community River Watch – Rother, Rother Voluntary Action, RSPCA Mallydams Wood, Sussex Underwater, Tilling Green Residents Association, Community Compost Solutions, Rye Repair Café, WaterWeek, Rother District Council and Sussex Greenways.
From 1 pm there will be screenings and presentations on marine wildlife and citizen science initiatives including the water testing and there will also be a live litter survey.
If you missed the humpback whale in Rye Bay recently there will be a short film from Sussex Dolphin Project and Sussex Underwater will provide a window beneath the waves.
Can you bring a sample of water from a nearby ditch, stream or river? As this year’s theme is Water, there is an offer to test water samples from local watercourses (while stocks of reagents last). Testing will be for ammonia, phosphate and electrical conductivity or total dissolved solids.
Please follow the following guidelines when collecting a sample:
- Only collect a sample if you have safe access to the water. Take somebody with you or make sure somebody knows where you are.
- Water samples should be fresh and collected in a clean bottle, rinsed with the water being tested before collecting the sample.
- Avoid collecting any living organisms.
- Try to avoid any contaminants floating on the surface, such as algae, plants or leaves.
- If you are concerned about the condition of the water, wear gloves when collecting your sample.
- Please label your sample with your name, and the date, time and location the water was collected.
Entry to the event is free. Tea, coffee and cake will be available.