All Hands on the Don
| Budget | £987k |
| Partners: | National Lottery Heritage Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, City of Doncaster Council, Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, FCC Community Fund, CLA Charitable Trust, Angling Trust, local ‘Freinds of’ groups. |
| Key outcomes: | Community engagement, habitat restoration. |
| Local watercourse: | River Don |
The Don Catchment Rivers Trust has been successful in obtaining funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the All Hands on the Don project, which is based around the natural, historic and cultural heritage of the lower River Don between Mexborough and Thorne.
The river, which has been radically transformed and engineered over the course of centuries, is central to the long and complex history of the area, being the main reason why Doncaster and many of the settlements that line the river’s banks exist.
Gain experience in practical conservation, citizen science, assisting events, and educational visits for schools as a volunteer for the All Hands on the Don project! To find out more, and to hear from our volunteers about their experiences, follow the link above. You can also follow our socials for updates on what we’re doing.
All Hands on the Don aims to:
Realise the River Don’s potential as green-blue infrastructure, and as a source of health, wellbeing and skills development
Explain the profound transformation of the River Don and drive forward biodiversity gain
Celebrate and promote natural and historic heritage
All Hands on the Don will deliver an imaginative programme of volunteering, events, access improvements, work placements and habitat improvements. These will look to:
- increase health and wellbeing
- foster community action, inclusion and community cohesion
- increase skills and employability
- improve access to the river, celebrate river heritage and foster understanding of the river and river issues
The All Hands on the Don team
Want to know how you can get involved? Contact us at [email protected] or have a look at your volunteering page.
Our funders
National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. All Hands on the Don is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to deliver a large community engagement and conservation and restoriation scheme in Doncaster for the first time.
