All Hands on the Don
About the project
The Don Catchment Rivers Trust is delivering the All Hands On The Don project. This project is all about connecting people with the natural, historic, and cultural heritage of the River Don between Mexborough and Thorne. It is a National Lottery Heritage Fund project.
All Hands on the Don is delivering volunteering, events, work placements, access improvements, and habitat improvements.
These are looking to:
- Increase health and wellbeing, skills, and employability
- Foster community action, inclusion, and community cohesion
- Improve access to the river, celebrate river heritage, and foster understanding of the river and river issues
Ways to get involved
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. Request a personalised event from us, such as a school session, an environmental discussion group, walks, talks, and more! Receive updates from us via our mailing lists and social media.
Sign up as a volunteer
Click on the titles to find out more information.
Catchment Volunteer
Working alongside DCRT staff you will help to improve the River through practical work. This can involve clean-up days to make the river a more pleasant place to be, improving access to the Don, invasive plant species removal and even habitat improvement work!
Citizen Science Volunteer
Working alongside DCRT staff you will help to survey the ecology in and around the River. This can involve surveys for plants, insects and animals and even kick sampling!
Volunteer Events Assistant
Working alongside DCRT staff you will help to run events to help promote the rivers in our catchment, the work the trust undertakes and the All Hands on the Don project!
Volunteer Education Assistant
Working alongside DCRT staff you will help to help run educational sessions for school and youth groups so that they can learn about their local river and the creatures that live in it. This can involve working with young people to go bug hunting, pond dipping, run classroom activities and helping to set up and pack away DCRT’s equipment!
Request a personalised event
Click on the titles to find out more information.
DCRT Youth
We offer volunteering, work experience or get involved with our events! Volunteering with us can go towards Duke of Edinburgh award, Scout badges, John Muir award and National Citizen Service. Come along for a taster day and see if you enjoy it!
River Guardians School Session
DCRT can offer a wide range of outdoor learning and classroom-based activities, delivered by our experienced teachers, to your school or uniformed group. We are happy to discuss curriculum links and fit educational sessions and activities to suit each class.
At the end of the session each learner is awarded with a FREE River Guardian pack to continue learning about the river at home.
Family Events
Join us during the school holidays for summer for our Brook Explorers events, where families can learn together. Suitable for all ages, bring your family and discover the underwater world, riverside nature and get crafty!
Environmental Discussion Group Session
Working alongside DCRT staff you will help to help run educational sessions for school and youth groups so that they can learn about their local river and the creatures that live in it. This can involve working with young people to go bug hunting, pond dipping, run classroom activities and helping to set up and pack away DCRT’s equipment!
Local Talks
The River Don has fascinating stories to tell and DCRT offers talks on a number of river related subjects including:
A brief history of the River Don
Salmon and Eels in the Don Catchment
We can also look to tailor our talks to suggested themes. Talks within the All Hands on the Don project area are provided free of charge, but a space to provide the talk is required.
If you do wish to make a contribution to DCRT for a talk, a suggested donation of £40 is welcome.
Send us an email at [email protected] to register your interest!
Local Walks
There are many beautiful and interesting places along our rivers and DCRT have guided many walks. We also know that spending time in green and blue spaces, is great for our health and wellbeing.
So, if you want to explore and learn more about a local watercourse, bats, wildflowers, birds or other wildlife, we can help you. Maybe you would like to learn more about the heritage of the river, or conduct a group reading, or maybe you would just like to walk and chat!
Whatever your preference, or if you have a totally different idea that you would like to suggest, get in touch!
Volunteering Event
Getting out into green and blue spaces is great for our health and wellbeing and our rivers always need a helping hand. Whether it is a riverside clean up, reducing invasive plants, habitat management, plastic pollution surveys or learning to identify and survey for birds, dragonflies, butterflies or other species, there are lots of ways for you to get involved and help to restore your rivers!
Receive updates
We’re active on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. We also have two newsletters so you can get updates on what we’ve been up to and events you’d like get involved in!
Community Grant Scheme
The purpose of the All Hands on the Don Community Grant Scheme is to help local organisations undertake projects which focus on the River Don and/or its tributaries. This includes bringing communities or individuals within a community together, to take action for the River Don and its tributaries, who wish to open up or improve riverside access.
The All Hands On The Don team
Alex Liversidge
Trust Development Manager
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Alex is the Trust Development Manager and supports the Chief Executive Officer, with a focus on income generation and stakeholder engagement, as well as researching potential opportunities for the Trust.
Alex also supports the All Hands on the Don project, which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Alex joined the trust in June 2022 to assist with the development of All Hands on the Don, helping to build connections to local communities and groups. He subsequently became the Project Officer for All Hands on the Don, working with the team to deliver engagement activities and habitat works.
Alex has a background in Local Government where he has worked with partner organisations and residents. He also volunteered with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and other charities for many years on a variety of projects including habitat management and surveying.
He has a passion for the natural world and has a Level 2 Diploma in Countryside and Environmental Studies through the College of Animal Welfare.
A Doncaster local, Alex is very passionate about the River Don catchment and the benefits that it can bring to local communities. A new parent, he loves spending time with his family and when possible enjoys the outdoors and keeping fit.
Sally Hyslop
Community Engagement Officer
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Sally is the Community Engagement Officer for the Trust’s National Lottery Heritage Fund project All Hands on the Don, where she works with community groups, residents and local schools, to develop and deliver education and participation activities.
Sally started working for DCRT in 2016 on the Living Heritage of the River Don project, first as Project Assistant and later as Community Engagement Officer. This led to Sally working as the Community Engagement Officer throughout the Trust’s Hidden Heritage Secret Streams project in Chesterfield. Both projects have been incredible opportunities, working alongside volunteers to improve our rivers, surveying wildlife with citizen scientists, teaching school sessions, and organising riverside events for families to learn about nature together.
Sally is also the Angler’s Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) coordinator for the Trust. Before working at DCRT Sally was an Identification Trainer for the Future at the Natural History Museum, where she trained in the identification of UK nature and gained experience in collections management, informal education, and engagement in natural history. Before this, she worked for the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, on placement with The Conservation Volunteers, helping to run wildlife gardening sessions for schools. Sally has also worked as an ecological surveyor.
Having been fascinated by Natural History her whole life, Sally started volunteering in the sector whilst at secondary school, helping on bat surveys and at a wildlife park. This led to studying at the University of Sheffield where she was awarded a Masters degree in Zoology.
Sally enjoy reading about wildlife and drawing the natural world. In free time, she likes to go wild-swimming, coarse fishing, walking in the peak district and visiting museums.
Anthony Cox
Volunteering Officer
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Anthony is the Volunteering Officer for the Trust’s National Lottery Heritage Fund project All Hands on the Don, where he supports volunteers to help make improvements to our rivers and to get involved with the project. He also works closely with Charlotte to ensure that volunteers have a great experience working with the trust and allow them to get what they want out of volunteering with us.
He was previously Project Volunteer Coordinator for the National Lottery Heritage Fund project, Hidden Heritage Secret Streams based around Chesterfield. He also worked on the Trust’s DEFRA funded, Green Recovery Challenge Fund.
Anthony started at the trust in October 2017 as an Environmental Conservation Apprentice on the Living Heriatge of the River Don project and then became a Higher-Level Environmental Conservation Apprentice in January 2019. Subsequently, Anthony was promoted to Project Assistant for National Lottery Heritage Fund project, Hidden Heritage Secret Streams, in September 2020. All of these roles involved running volunteer days and improving the environment around the rivers in our catchment. This involved helping with community engagement and working in schools to help educate young people on how amazing our rivers are. A stand out achievement for Anthony is leading on the creation of an informative leaflet guide to the Don Valley Way, which Anthony personally thinks is really great.
Anthony is licensed to use chainsaws, brush cutters and pesticides, so is often managing habitats and helping to tackle invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam. He is also a first aider and qualified to use a defibrillator.
In his spare time Anthony is the lead percussionist in the Armthorpe Elmfield band and is a highly qualified sailor, with a seamanship level qualification. He owns a ‘mirror’ boat and enjoys music, walking in the countryside and video games.
Rebecca Ford
Project Assistant
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Rebecca joined the Trust in November 2023 as Project Assistant for All Hands on the Don. This is the National Lottery Heritage Fund project for increasing local wellbeing, community action, employability and skills, and connection with local heritage, all by taking care of the River Don.
She will aid the project in many ways, including practical volunteer days, citizen science, outreach events, media and publicity.
Based in Sheffield, Rebecca has previously volunteered for several of her local environmental organisations such as the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, the South Yorkshire Bat Group, and DCRT! She has also worked as an assistant ecologist for an environmental consultancy in Sheffield, and as a communications assistant for a local climate alliance.
In her free time, Rebecca enjoys cooking and baking with friends, crocheting, ecological ID, and reading.
Ben Curl
Project Assistant
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In March 2024 Ben joined the team as a Project Apprentice to help assist on the National Lottery Heritage Fund project All Hands on the Don.
Ben is the newest addition to our team at the Trust and he is eager to learn more about the Trust’s involvement with the local community, wildlife and future for the Doncaster area.
Prior to joining, Ben studied Work-Based Environmental Conservation at The Sheffield College, which taught him the skills and knowledge that made him a perfect fit for our team. Whilst working at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Ben helped improve visitor engagement by getting visitors of all backgrounds into the art, history and wildlife of the park.
As part of his role at DCRT, he will be using mixed formats to engage the public, with the aim of developing new opportunities for people, to interact and learn about the river’s heritage, work alongside volunteers and help engage and coordinate events and activities.
In 2025 Ben was made Project Assistant having achieved a distinction in his apprenticeship.
Sue Goodship
Administration Officer
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Sue is the Trust’s Administration Officer where she provides invaluable support to everyone in their work.
Sue joined the Trust in 2016 as Administration Officer for the Living Heritage of the River Don project and subsequently the Hidden Heritage, Secret Streams project and is looking forward to exploring and finding out more about the history of the All Hands on the Don project area, and the wildlife living there.
Sue’s background is in Admin and Finance, with a splash of Human Resources and she has worked across a diverse range of industries including power generation, manufacturing, local policing and also in the voluntary sector for a local disability charity.
Sue has always had a fascination for wildlife and local history and her hobbies include baking, pottering around her garden and pond and visiting the great British seaside as often as possible.
Our funders
| 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 ‘Friends of’ groups. |
| Key outcomes | Community engagement, habitat restoration. |
| Local watercourse | River Don |
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.
Our other funders
