Our Communities and Environment Director, Simone Medonos organised a joint river clean up event with IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment), so it was on a sunny evening in May that I made my way to the Water of Leith visitors centre.

On arrival I was presented with the choice of wellies or waders. Now, being one who usually ends up up to her neck in trouble, I thought waders would probably be the best option. And not only did I get waders, I also got a rake, and a binbag. There was no stopping me now!

After a safety briefing, and being shown a picture of Public Enemy #1 (Giant Hogweed) with strict intructions to not touch, we were on our way. Half of us were sent downstream and the other half went upstream. The team with the wellies and litter pickers made their way along the footpath gathering rubbish as they went, leaving us wader-wearers to intrepidly make our way into the water.

It wasn't long before I spotted my first bit of rubbish to be collected - a discarded shoe! Buoyed by my first find, my confidence was raised and my bag was soon filled with cans, plastic bags, footballs and other rubbish. Indeed so much confidence that I got lax with my trusty depth-estimating rake and took a step a too far, ending up with water pouring down the back of my waders. Not a good look!

We ended up with lots of bags of rubbish that we had collected from the river, along with some larger items that had to be wheelbarrowed back to the collection point. At the end of our shift, we were suitably fed and watered and I slept like a baby that night!

The Water of Leith Conservation Trust have a year rould job to keep the river clean, so please do consider offering your time to help, or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you'd like to get involved in the JCI Edinburgh community and environmental programme.