00:00Between the club and Hague Environmental, Hague Environmental has been a very generous supporter of the club for many years
00:10and you'll see pictures of the family in the bar going back a long time.
00:14This sponsorship package that's been agreed is going to help us develop growing at all levels right across the club
00:22and for all ages but with a particular emphasis on juniors from the Ross community.
00:30As a club we can't thank Hague Environmental enough for their partnership and continued commitment to Ross Road Club.
00:38We all know the value of sport from a fitness perspective but just as important is the sense of belonging
00:47that comes from being part of a community like Ross Road Club.
00:52This support will help more people, especially young people, experience the confidence, friendship and wellbeing that rowing can bring.
01:01Thank you to the company and the Sheppard family for their generosity, encouragement and belief in what the club is
01:08trying to achieve.
01:11We're delighted to have the Mayor of Ross, our honoured guest Jesse Norman MP with us today.
01:19And I'd imagine Jesse you've had a busy week in Westminster.
01:25Possibly just sitting back and watching it all go on.
01:29But I'm led to believe that actually Jesse was in his past a formidable rower.
01:35And I would say that when we launched the boat later, I'm sure someone could have a look in the
01:41lost property box.
01:42There's some, and the lost property boxes are so bad in the summer because it's generally dry the kit.
01:49I'm sure we would find some kit and get him back out in the boat.
01:57I'd like to thank the Mayor of Ross and Wycastle for attending today and I'd invite her to say a
02:05few words.
02:12Good evening.
02:14I'm delighted to be here today to celebrate the new partnership between Ross Rowing Club and Hague Environmental.
02:22The River Wy is extremely important to Ross and Wy.
02:26It's the reason the town was established here.
02:30I've lived in Ross for nearly 30 years and the river has always been a big part of my family's
02:35life.
02:36When the children were little, we often came down to the river for a walk and to feed the ducks.
02:42As they grew older, they canoed and rowed on the river and as teenagers used the pebbled beach to meet
02:49up.
02:51Now we can be found walking our dogs along the riverbank alongside so many others.
02:56We're so lucky that we have easy and accessible riverside walks.
03:00It also attracts so many visitors to share the river's beautiful scenery and many activities.
03:08But I think until recently, maybe, we have taken the river for granted.
03:13In the last few years, we've all become so much more aware of the threat to the river's health,
03:19the resulting damage to the local wildlife and the severe depletion of fish stock.
03:24The numerous campaigns to restore the Wy back to health are visibly important
03:29and I applaud all the different groups working so hard for this cause for the benefit of us all.
03:37I'm especially proud to be here today as Mayor of Ross-on-Wye.
03:41I would like to congratulate Ross Rowan Club and Hague Environmental for their collaboration
03:48to install the new water quality monitoring buoy, which will help to assess and improve the river water's health.
03:56Constant vigilance is essential to identify changes in the water quality and prevent any further damage to the river's ecosystem.
04:07The campaigns around the River Wy are all about working in partnership between environmental groups and farmers,
04:15local industry and those who use the river for sport and leisure.
04:19The residents of Ross-on-Wye have a part to play.
04:22It's our river and it's part of the core identity of the town.
04:28We should all follow the example of Ross Rowan Club and Hague Environmental
04:33and embrace our role as custodians of our stretch of the River Wy.
04:48Fantastic to see so many of you here and it's a privilege to work with so many of you.
04:54At Hague we're passionate about water quality, water treatment as well as our deep connections to Ross-on-Wye.
05:00We're proud of our long-standing support at Ross Rowan Club and are delighted to have the opportunity to support
05:07the club on a sustainable basis with this innovative advice here on Ross.
05:14This renewed sponsorship is to help build our commitment beyond just a fantastic annual regatta once a year to something
05:23that can be long standing and a really great reason to have regular conversations with everyone.
05:31As many of you will be aware, my brother Jacob and I are big fans of using data to help
05:36solve difficult problems.
05:38So it's not a surprise when we came across the AquaWatch system that the opportunity for bringing valuable information about
05:45water quality direct to those most affected by that was clear.
05:48Just a few words about why we would find this device particularly interesting.
05:54There are plenty of water quality monitors which produce all sorts of wonderful data.
05:59The AquaWatch does this as well but it also takes that and turns it into meaningful information that can be
06:06fed and read by, for example, the Ross Rowan Club committee.
06:09So that you can not just be looking at an EA, sorry, an EA device, an EA monitoring device with
06:18squiggly lines and lots of numbers about nitrates and phosphates and pH and the rest of it.
06:24It translates them into meaningful information about whether or not there have been, for example, pollution events or what species
06:31might be being affected by a particular set of conditions.
06:34Real evidence-led topics can be discussed in practical improvements as well.
06:38We hope that many people around the country follow suit and we hope that this is actually genuinely valuable and
06:44interesting to river users here.
06:47Many thanks to Jesse Norman, councillor, mayor and as well as Ross Rowan Club and committee for hosting us at
06:57this beautiful venue.
07:06Thank you very much indeed Nigel and Lady Mayor and also of course Jonathan.
07:13What a fantastic occasion this is and just massive congratulations to Ross Rowan Club and to Hague Environmental Hall and
07:22especially I would say to all of those who made all the catering possible today.
07:26Because we just, I don't know about you but I had rather more cocktail sausages than I ever had.
07:32I'm skirting a cardiovascular event as a result and that's only because of the kindness and the hard work of
07:38the people who put this on.
07:39So thank you.
07:40When Jonathan said to me would I come and speak at this I said mine's a 99 flake and can
07:45I have a second flake alongside it.
07:49That's a little revenge Jonathan if you don't mind about me being a great rower.
07:52I'm not a great rower, I'm the father of a great rower so that's more or less the same thing.
07:57But I was a pretty, I'm sorry to say a pretty coarse rower but one with great joy.
08:02And of course the fantastic thing about this event is that we bring together so many beautiful things.
08:09Incredible town of Ross Old Wye, the beautiful river Wye which maintains its beauty despite all of the difficulties that
08:16it's had over the last few years.
08:18Or which as you probably know I've been fighting for at least six years.
08:22And of course it also brings together the rowing club which is one of the great community organisations in the
08:28county.
08:29So that's all of that is absolutely fantastic.
08:31And I particularly take my hat off to the Shepard family.
08:34I think Luke and his father Nigel and of course Colin, my predecessor Colin Shepard, their grandfather.
08:41They are the family that sustained Hague Engineering and they have been the ones who have been taken this into
08:47all new relationship with the club.
08:49And so I take my hat off to them.
08:51What they've given us today through this new extraordinary innovation is literally a thing that looks like a mine.
08:59It is a mine, it's a mine of information about the river.
09:03And I hope it will help us to think much more carefully and thoughtfully about what's happening to it, the
09:09kinds of distress it's under.
09:10But I hope it won't stop us from having the wonderful fun of going down the river and enjoying the
09:15amazing sights that it offers and the incredible joy of pulling a blade through water.
09:22And so I hope you will join me in congratulating everyone that's made this event possible.
09:28Hague, Environmental, all of the staff and committee of the rowing club.
09:32But also I hope you will join me in a very quick three cheers for Ross Reign Club.
09:37Ladies and gentlemen, Ross Reign Club, hip hip.
09:40Hooray.
09:40Hip hip.
09:41Hooray.
09:42Hip hip.
09:43Hooray.
09:43Thank you very much indeed.
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