Are you passionate about protecting and improving rivers?  

Mersey Rivers Trust is looking for a Senior Project & Partnerships Manager to lead environmental projects, drive partnerships, and manage a small team delivering real change across the Upper Mersey and Irwell river catchments in Greater Manchester. You'll work with key stakeholders, secure funding, oversee project delivery, and make a tangible impact on our rivers. 

If you have strong leadership, partnership and project management skills, we want to hear from you!

Location: Greater Manchester (Home-based with travel across Greater Manchester)

Salary: £37,000 - £39,000

Contract: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

Closing date: 28th March 2025

Interviews: w/c 31st March 2025

Interested?  Please email your CV (no more than two sides of A4) and a covering letter (no more than two sides of A4), outlining how you meet the requirements of the person specification and job description to the Operations & Delivery Director, Paul Henbrey: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

More information:

Your work will focus on the Upper Mersey and Irwell river catchments, where the rivers that form the Mersey have their source on the moorlands of the Peak District & Pennine hills, flowing through the towns of Greater Manchester to the cities of Manchester and Salford and into the Manchester Ship Canal.

Your role will be to develop projects designed to improve the health of watercourses in the Upper Mersey and Irwell catchments, contribute to reducing flood risk, and engage communities in caring for their local river. You will lead a team of two project managers, and work closely with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and communities (local authorities, other eNGOs, businesses, local community groups and volunteers) to deliver these projects. 

Much of our work is delivered in partnership with others; your relationships will be so close that it will often seem like you are colleagues in the same organisation.  You will host the Upper Mersey Catchment Partnership, bringing key partners together to plan and deliver improvements to the rivers across the catchment (Rivers Tame, Goyt, upper Mersey, Bollin). 

This is an exciting time for us with multiple projects underway or in development.  For example, we have just received a large donation to fund a 4-year project to transform the River Tame, from its source to Stockport, where it joins the River Goyt to form the River Mersey. Part of your role will be to use this donation as a basis to leverage further funding to expand our river improvement programme.

Key experience we are looking for you to bring to this role:

• Working collaboratively with a varied range of partners and stakeholders
• Leading and supporting a dedicated project team
• Designing and delivering projects
• Managing project budgets
• Writing funding bids

Key competencies:

• Clear and effective communication skills, orally and in writing
• Ability and willingness to listen, understand others’ perspectives and build consensus
• Ability to plan and organise a team’s activities to deliver successful outcomes
• Capacity to respond flexibly to changes in circumstances and adapt projects accordingly
• Understanding of environmental processes, ideally relating to the water environment, and the application of that understanding in project development and design

A full role profile is available on request or if you have any questions about the role, please email Paul Henbrey: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As we begin a new year, we take a look back at the projects and achievements in 2024 in the Alt Crossens catchment. Issue 3 of the Alt Crossens newsletter can be found below:

Alt Crossens Newsletter 3, January 2025

We are delighted to announce the publication of this fantastic new book by Dr David Solomon, sponsored by Mersey Rivers Trust. The book explores the history of fish and fisheries of the freshwater reaches of the River Mersey and its tributaries, and the environmental factors that have shaped them.  It follows the development of the fisheries over the past thousand years, both for food and recreation, and the people and organisations who have been involved in them.  The decline of fisheries as a direct casualty of the industrial revolution, and the recovery over the past 75 years, is a fascinating study of relevance to all those with an interest in fish, water quality and the industrial and social history of Greater Manchester.

The book is illustrated with numerous etchings, photographs, drawings and maps, and contains a wealth of fascinating facts and tales.

David Solomon is a retired fisheries scientist with a wide range and knowledge and experience of UK fisheries over the past sixty years.

Hardback, 172 pp, ISBN 9780957427631  Price £20

Interesting matters covered include:-

• How fish arrived in the Mersey.
• A detailed assessment of fishing in the Mersey and Irwell in the early 19^th century.
• The deterioration and recovery of water quality over the past 200 years.
• The virtual eradication of fish throughout most of the catchment in the 19^th century, and their reappearance and recovery in the past seventy years.
• The problems posed by industrial pollution and domestic sewage in such a densely-populated area, and how they were addressed.
• The evolution of angling destinations as fish became scarce locally, and the developing rail network opened up more distant locations.
• The fascinating history of match fishing in the River Weaver.
• The disappearance and return of salmon.
• The management and recovery of water quality and fisheries at Salford Quays.
• The recent development of a top-class river fishery for very large brown trout, some weighing well over ten pounds.

How to purchase a copy of this book

Email Mersey Rivers Trust at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will provide purchase options.

Copies are also available direct from the publisher, Fluvial Books, for £20 (postage free within the UK).  To purchase a copy please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will email you a pro-forma invoice with details of making payment by BACS.  As soon as we receive payment, a copy of the book will be dispatched by post.  If you would like a copy posted overseas let us know and will supply a pro-forma invoice reflecting the additional postage cost.

Mersey Rivers Trust’s annual “Mersey Rivers Week” returns this coming week running from Sunday 30 June to Saturday 6 July across Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The week-long event celebrates the environment, wildlife and recreational benefits of the rivers that form the River Mersey. From the Peak District to the Mersey Estuary, there are over 1,000km of river which are home to a wide range of wildlife, including fish, insects and birds. Local communities can also enjoy access to these rivers for recreation, health and well-being.  Our FREE events are listed below:

 Full details are available on our website (merseyrivers.org). Some events require pre-booking.

John Sanders, co-Director at the Mersey Rivers Trust commented: “Our Mersey Rivers Week highlights how community volunteers are supporting us to improve the health of their local rivers for people and wildlife.  This work is helping to increase the number of fish, insects, birds and other wildlife in our rivers, but there is much more we still need to do to further improve the river environment.

“One of our key aims is to work with local communities to enhance public access to rivers so more people can enjoy the recreation, health and well-being benefits of spending time next to a river. On Saturday 6^th July, we are encouraging the public to go for a walk or ride along their local river and posting a photograph or two on social media – tagging Mersey Rivers Trust and #MerseyRiversWeek”.