Supporting scholarships through community fundraising
Litter and plastic pollution remain a challenge for many urban rivers. In Cardiff, sections of the River Taff had become heavily littered, affecting both the local environment and the communities living alongside it. As a result, coordinated action was needed to support long‑term environmental improvement in the area.
In March 2025, our Rail Systems senior leadership team and project colleagues joined the South East Wales Rivers Trust for a large‑scale community river clean‑up. The initiative brought together local organisations, volunteers and project partners as part of a wider effort to restore the river and raise awareness of river pollution.
Volunteers focused on cleaning a 225‑metre stretch of the riverbank, removing plastic waste, shopping bags, sanitary products and other litter.
In total, the event mobilised 1,327 participants, setting a new Guinness World Record for the most people to clean up a river, significantly exceeding the previous record of 329.
Collected litter was used to support a Welsh Government‑backed research campaign to inform future action on river pollution.
225m
of riverbank cleaned
1,327
volunteers involved
1
Guiness World Record achieved
