Vitamin Sea Project 2026: Making a Splash at Chelmarsh Reservoir

When you think of creating ocean connections, you probably don’t imagine a reservoir in Shropshire. But our oceans are integral for the health of inland regions just as much as they are part of the coastline. 

Craig, who organises our Vitamin Sea sessions at Chelmarsh Reservoir, was Seaful’s first volunteer and we loved that he recognised the importance of educating young people who live in a landlocked county about our oceans and how what happens in our rivers, streams and reservoirs all has an impact. 

During their day at Chelmarsh Reservoir with Craig and his team of fabulous volunteers, the children learn about the water cycle and how the reservoir they’re paddleboarding on provides their tap water, but also how this connects to the River Severn and, eventually, our oceans.

The duck game is a firm favourite. It’s a session where the children work together to build their own representation of the water cycle, using sponges as clouds, pipes as rivers, a paddling pool as the ocean and small rubber ducks to represent what gets washed downstream – litter, sewage and fertiliser. 

It’s a fun, hands-on way to help them understand how interconnected all of our waterways are and what they can do to help protect our oceans. 

“I liked the ducks and being the watercycle.”

Getting to experience time on the water is an important aspect of the Chelmarsh sessions, with all the children spending time learning to paddleboard during their day at the reservoir.

There is, of course, much laughter and splashing during the active parts of the session and our volunteers tell us they love watching young people go from feeling nervous about being on the water or falling in to growing in confidence.

“I liked getting to jump off.”

All the water-based sessions also include a mindful moment – or a Seaful moment – where the children pause and absorb what’s happening in the world around them on their boards. 

These short moments of calm and presence are just as essential as the active parts of the paddleboarding sessions because they help the young people connect to nature in a mindful way.

“I felt really calm during the one minute mindful moment.”

The team at Chelmarsh also ran land snorkelling sessions with the children to help them appreciate and experience the variety of nature around the reservoir.

During their sessions, they looked at how the reservoir connects to the River Severn and the ocean, identified different kinds of trees, insects and birds, and learnt about the lifecycle of butterflies and moths. 

It proved to be an excellent way to help the children see all the connections in nature and get excited about some of our native wildlife. 

“I liked finding things lurking during the land snorkelling.”

Over the course of three days, 66 children got to experience their local waterway, learn about their local nature and make their own ocean connections. We’re already excited for next year’s sessions!