Love our Tyne was one of a number of environmental groups and organisations that joined The Future is Now event at the Queens Hall in Hexham, 9th May 2026
Malcolm engaged children and their parents with wonderfully told stories about rivers. John and Abby invited children, aged from about 5 years to 11 years, to draw what they thought the perfect river would look like while the parents talked about Rights of Rivers and completed our survey / questionnaire.
The unsolicited comments made by children were illuminating, and we were blown over by the enthusiasm of some of the adults who emphasised the importance of the River to their and their loved ones’ lives and expressed gratitude that the group had come into existence.
Even the younger children understood that the water had to be clean and had to have fish swimming in it. The fish had to belong there, one 6-year-old noted. Older children were able to articulate some of the very principles Love our Tyne promotes. A ten-year-old said that the river needed a voice! Another said that the river was part of the natural cycle and everything in it had to work together.
Several children drew people walking alongside the river and others swimming in it, echoing the rights to roam along the whole length of the river and our desire for the river to be safe to swim in.
Not only are young children noted for being very good at asking the big questions; it appears they can also provide some of the big answers too!
