The Mersey Basin Campaign began in 1985 as a 25-year, government-backed movement to clean up the entire Mersey river system. Its sister organisation, the Mersey Rivers Trust, continues following the completion of the Mersey Basin Campaign in 2010. The site below details the work of the Mersey Basin Campaign and identifies the incredible legacy it leaves.

The River Mersey travels nearly 70 miles from its start, at the confluence of the Rivers Tame and Goyt in Stockport, to where it meets the Irish Sea at New Brighton. On its journey west, through south Manchester and Warrington towards Liverpool’s famous Pier Head, it passes through 29 local authority areas. Almost five million people live within its catchment.

A successful clean up required the engagement and participation of myriad different organisations, authorities and communities. What was needed was an organisation that could bring everyone together. The Mersey Basin Campaign broke new ground in British administrative practice with its uniquely collaborative programme. It is internationally recognised as having pioneered effective partnership working – in 1999 it became the inaugural winner of the International Thiess Riverprize for best river system clean up.