Thank you for your interest in becoming an Urban Riverfly Monitor! For more information about the Urban Riverfly scheme, which was developed by the Riverfly Partnership, please click here.

Date: Thursday 28 August 2025

Venue: James Leal Centre - Ray Park, Ray House, Woodford, Wells, Woodford Green IG8 7GL (more info about how to get there can be found here).

Timings: 09:15 - 16:30 (more details are in the below table). Please note, timings are slightly flexible so we may finish slightly earlier than 16:30.

Structure of the day:

09:30 = Arrivals, registration and refreshments

09:45 = Intros, health & safety and biosecurity

10:15 = Introduction to Riverfly monitoring (RMI)

10:50 = Break tea/coffee

11:00 = Target groups - identification, life history & ecology

11:40 = BREAK (tea/coffee)

11:50 = RMI fieldwork - theory

12:10 = BREAK (lunch)

12:45 = RMI fieldwork - practical session in the river

15:00 = Clean equipment and kit

15:45 = ID quiz (back inside the pavilion)

15:50 = Online database and RMI in practice

16:15 = Questions and feedback

16:30 = Finish

Getting there: The centre is a 15-minute walk from Woodford Station (Central Line) and an 8-minute walk from the Ray Lodge Primary School stop (275 bus). If you're driving, there is a paid car park at the centre, which costs £5.80 for the day

Lunch: Please bring your own lunch with you, or there will be time during the break to buy some from the café at the centre.

Clothing: Please dress appropriately for the weather: If there is rain in the forecast, bring a raincoat. In general for riverfly monitoring, please wear long trousers and wear or bring a long-sleeved top/fleece/jumper to protect yourself from nettles or giant hogweed. Please also wear sturdy shoes for the walk to the site for the practical session.

Waders: Please fill in the waders section in the sign-up form, so I know your shoe size and can make sure I bring enough waders to fit everyone. I won't be able to let you keep these waders, unfortunately - they will just be loaned to you for the training day. Also, please let me know if you are going to bring your own waders. 

Equipment: All equipment for the RMI practical fieldwork will be provided on the day - I will give you/the person representing your group your monitoring kit to take home with you. This kit includes: a large net (approximately 1.5m tall so I would advise not cycling if you are the designated person in your group who is taking the net home), a 16 litre bucket, a large white tray, a nine-section divided tray, a large pipette, a couple of small pipettes, a couple of plastic spoons, a magnifying glass and a paintbrush.

Under 18s: Please note, if you are under the age of 18, you must be accompanied by a legal parent or guardian in order to attend.

Let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at harrison.tremain@thames21.org.uk