A CASH injection of £57,100 will enable volunteers to carry out essential maintenance work along the River Tyne and its tributaries.

Volunteers will get to work on a series of improvement projects after the Tyne Rivers Trust received the funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The trust will use the cash to employ a new co-ordinator to build on its existing network of volunteers, who have made a significant contribution since the organisation was formed in 2004.

The new co-ordinator will expand the trust’s programme of volunteering activities and provide more opportunities for a wider range of people to get involved.

Volunteering activities cover a range of improvements, from clearing invasive flora-like Japanese knotweed, to removing obstructions to improve river flow and monitoring species such as water voles.

Tyne Rivers Trust director Susan Mackirdy said: “This funding means we can employ a dedicated co-ordinator to provide a boost to existing volunteering efforts and ensure that a new generation of volunteers flow through the ranks.

“Not only will the River Tyne continue to get better and better, it will also be improved through the hard work and dedication of the communities that live along it.”

The trust has been carrying out improvements to the River Tyne and its tributaries for the past decade, in which time there has been significant improvement to large stretches of the river.

This essential work is mainly carried out by its volunteer workforce who are the trust’s eyes and ears on the riverbank.

To get involved with volunteering go to www.tyneriverstrust.org or call (01434) 636900.