About this Event
🌿 Help bring a historic reedbed back to life
Whether you can see the reedbed from your window or you’re just after a better plan than scrolling, come and join us on the River Lea. We’re restoring the Cody Reedbed and we need your help to make it happen.
You’ll get muddy, meet new people, and head home knowing you’ve done something real for nature, right on your doorstep. No experience needed, we’ll show you everything.
🦆 Why reedbeds?
A reedbed is a type of wetland habitat dominated by reeds – a type of tall grass that likes to grow in shallow water. It’s one of the UK’s most important habitats for wildlife, and over the centuries many were drained for farmland and development. In a city like London, where so much of the riverbank is hard edges, a reedbed gives nature a soft, living place to thrive.
A healthy reedbed:
· Provides homes and food for birds, insects, fish and mammals. Reed warblers nest in the reeds, kingfishers hunt along the edges and otters use them as cover
· Helps clean the water by trapping sediment and taking up some of the excess nutrients and pollution in our river
· Locks away carbon by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and taking the carbon back down into the soil when they die
🛠️ What we’ll be doing
Over a series of sessions running from November 2026 – May 2027, we’ll be:
· Digging channels to re-wet the land, so that the reeds can spread and outcompete the other more land-based species
· Building earth banks and planting reeds and other wetland species
· Building homes for wildlife, including a kingfisher bank and an otter holt
· Learning the basics of wetland management and how to use various tools
🔥 What we’ll provide
· Guidance from our team, and all the tools and equipment you need
· Hi-vis and gloves
· Steel toe-capped wellies, if you don’t have suitable footwear
· Access to parts of the reedbed that are normally closed to the public
· A chance to chat to local Biodiversity Officers about local ecology
· Shelter, plus tea, coffee and vegan s’mores by the campfire
🥾 What to wear and bring
· Wear: clothes you don’t mind getting muddy in, warm layers (it’s winter), a waterproof jacket, long trousers (there are brambles and nettles). If you have sturdy waterproof boots or wellies, wear them. If not, don’t worry, we’ll lend you steel toe-capped wellies, so let us know your boot size when you book.
· Bring: a reusable water bottle and cup, a packed lunch or money for the café, and a willingness to carry out manual labour & landscaping work
· Optional: a spare pair of socks for the journey home (just in case), and your mates!
♿ Accessibility and age
· Ages 14+ (under 16s need to be accompanied by an adult)
· No experience or fitness level needed. Work at your own pace and take breaks by the campfire as often as you like
· The ground is uneven, muddy and can be slippery
· Toilets are a short walk away, back at our main site
· If you have access needs or questions, get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to help
⏰ Times
Please arrive by 10:00am for a welcome and safety briefing, then stay for as long as you like. The session runs until 4:00pm, but you’re welcome to head off whenever suits you, whether that’s after an hour or at the end of the day. Just let a member of the team know before you leave.
📍 Find us
Cody Dock, 11c South Crescent, E16 4TL
· By DLR: Star Lane station is about 10-minute walk away
· On foot or by bike: follow the riverside walk south from Bow Lock (google maps will want to take you around the outside of the industrial estate, which you can ignore)
First time at Cody Dock?
18+ please fill in our before you come.
Under 18s, please fill in this .
Event venue & nearby stays
Cody Dock, 11c South Crescent, London, United Kingdom
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