Car parts, phones and cow's skull found in Chesterfield river - as canoe club, nominated for King's award, take on major clean up

Run entirely by volunteers, Pleasley Canoe Club, have recently taken on the task of cleaning up River Rother – after last year’s floods brought in an unusual amount of rubbish and litter into the water.

The club’s chairman Dale Smith said: “We've been cleaning the river for the last two months. We've filled countless bags with all sorts of objects, we’ve fetched tyres, car and motorbike parts, bikes, shopping trolleys, phones and even a cow’s skull. We’ve done a substantial cleanup.”

But cleaning up the river is only one of many amazing projects Pleasley Canoe Club are running for the local community – including weekly kayaking and outdoor activity sessions.

Over the last 20 years, the club has worked with numerous community groups, football teams, school groups and even hosted sessions for children from Belarus.

One of the upcoming events hosted by the club will be Family Fun Day hosted on September 7 and 8. The event, run in cooperation with

Junction Arts, will see a number of activities for the whole family including kayaking, paddleboarding, zorbing, rides, inflatables, archery, stalls and more.

Dale said: “The event was organised by the council in the past but they had to pull the plug on it because of financial problems and cutting funds. We decided to step in and take the event on to provide the local community with some free activities.”

The efforts the canoe club put in for the community and the environment have been recognised way beyond Derbyshire – with the organisation being nominated for King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) this year.

Created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and previously known as The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the Award has been shining a light on the fantastic work of voluntary groups from all across the UK for many years.

Equivalent to an MBE, KAVS is the highest Award given to local voluntary groups in the UK, and they are awarded for life.

Dale said: “We're a bit blown away with this nomination, it’s quite a prestigious thing for a Chesterfield canoe club.”

The winners of this year’s awards will be officially announced on Thursday, November 14 in the Gazette.