Diglis Island Volunteers - Unlocking the SevernUnlocking the Severn

Diglis Island Guides

Our Diglis Island Guide volunteers lead the tours of Diglis Island and Diglis fish pass. They are an integral part of Unlocking the Severn, giving up their time to guide groups through the history, geography and importance of the island. As well as explaining how the fish pass has restored the river for fish. Without them we could not have engaged so many communities with the project.

Don’t forget to check our Events page to keep up to date with the events and activities happening as part of Unlocking the Severn. Please note, our main visitor season is between April and October. We work with the availability of our brilliant volunteers to produce our events schedule.

Become a Diglis Island Guide

Digging the DIGs of Diglis!

The volunteers come from a diverse background but all have the same passion, pride and enthusiasm for the project. This is evident in the personal experiences of several of our Diglis Island Guides (DIGs). You can read their stories below:

Meet some of our DIGs

Rashu

“One of the things that I was pleasantly surprised to discover in my intriguing and exhilarating tour guide role was how much I’ve enjoyed meeting the other tour guides and members of the community…We all have the wonderful project in common and it’s amazing to see how much passion, joy and enthusiasm it’s stirred up in us.”

Read Rashu’s story.

Rick

“I worked at Diglis Lock Island office during the construction of the fish pass, listening to the sheet piles being hammered in! I have seen a tremendously positive change in the area environmentally and physically and am enthused to introduce visitors on to the island and fish pass and provide many with the answers to questions about the area.”

Read Rick’s story.

Siou

“The shared jubilation down at the viewing window when a fish makes an appearance is an experience like no other. Not a dry eye in the house.”

Read Siou’s story.

Heather

“I’m Heather, I’m 75 and a half and proud to be a DIG!…To see everyone, young and old, enthralled at seeing fish swim and cavort past the viewing window fills me with so much pleasure and pride and this has been made possible thanks to such incredible engineering and the support of everyone involved.”

Read Heather’s story.

Explorers Education Volunteers

The Canal & River Trust Explorers Education Volunteers are in charge of running the school visits to Diglis Island and Fish Pass. The volunteers, many of whom are former teachers and headteachers themselves, do a wonderful job of bringing classroom topics to life at Diglis.

At the end of our first academic year running school visits (2021-22), the Explorer volunteers had welcomed 658 school children and staff to Diglis Island and the fish pass. An amazing achievement for our first year!

Find out more about our school visits on our schools webpage.

Green Team

The Green Team are one of our longest running volunteer groups., established in January 2020 by previous Waterways Environment Apprentice, Pete Savage. Coordination of the team was then taken over by Waterways Environment Apprentice Aaron Batsman, and they have continued their great work turning Diglis Island from an unmanaged space into a beautiful visitor destination and wildlife haven!

Responsible for maintaining Diglis Island and creating new habitats, there’s nothing this lot can’t turn their hand to. Whether that’s creating safer walkways, building a sand martin colony box, or planting a wildflower meadow, and plenty more besides!

You can follow along with their latest adventures on our social media @SevernUnlocked.