National River Walks - Information Sessions (Event 1)

You are invited to the first of two open information sessions about the National River Walks competed grant opportunity we plan to launch in July 2026.

A link to the event is located in this advert.

- Funding organisation: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs - Location: England - Award: £1 to £1.35 million per award; total scheme size £5.4 million - Opening date: 2026-06-02 - Closing date: 2026-06-11

Summary

The government's manifesto commitment to deliver nine new national river walks was restated in the recent Environmental Improvement Plan and since then we have been busy working on the demonstrator project and preparing to deliver the remaining walks.

We are pleased to confirm that we will be holding a grant competition to deliver the next four walks. This competition will launch in July and will be open on the official government grant portal 'Find a Grant'.

To find out more we recommend you attend one of the two identical information sessions.

Eligibility

This session is open to all organisations who want to find out more about this exciting opportunity.

Objectives

The 2025 Environment Improvement Plan sets out the government’s vision for nature, including a programme of improvements designed to deliver against Goal 10: Access to Nature. Through its National River Walk programme, Defra intends to progress towards meeting the following EIP commitments:

- Commitment 86: Make sure that everyone has access to green or blue spaces within a 15-minute walk from home. - Commitment 87: Reduce physical and intangible barriers to accessing green and blue spaces to increase the frequency of visits from those currently least likely to access them.

Policy objectives of the river walks programme are:

- Provide improved, more inclusive access to nature that is targeted to an area of higher deprivation. - Increase engagement with nature through community participation and increased opportunities to enjoy and learn about nature. - Work in partnership with the local community to drive increasing usage of the route. - Improve or restore nature and/or water quality through nature recovery projects.

Dates

There are two information sessions planned.

Thursday 11th June 10am-11am - link for this session is located in this advert.

Tuesday 16th June 2pm-3pm - please access the separate 'Find a Grant' invitation to locate the link for this event.

How to apply

Click on the link below to join the information session on 11th June 2026.

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/314125264770079?p=KOiRjp4qEI0cHt2d0o

Supporting information

2025 Environmental Improvement Plan

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-improvement-plan-2025/environmental-improvement-plan-eip-2025

Apply / more information: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/314125264770079?p=KOiRjp4qEI0cHt2d0o