Who We Are

The Save Windermere campaign began due to the simple, verifiable statistic that in 2020 over 7000 hours of untreated sewage was flowing, mainly from our rivers, into Windermere.

Matt Staniek at the Houses of Parliament

Save Windermere was founded by Matt Staniek.

Matt grew up in Windermere, studied Zoology at university, returned home - and then broke his neck in a car accident. He started his campaign in July 2021 after going to the head of Windermere each day for 3 years, whilst recovering both mentally and physically. In this time, he observed the natural world around him, and sadly, the sharp, sudden decline in our rivers and our lake.

Matt was appalled when he found out that sewage is being discharged into our lake and at that moment, decided to dedicate his life to solving this issue.

18 months later, in early 2023, the Save Windermere team expanded. We are now a registered not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC), governed by a Board of Directors. We are all based locally in Windermere and care deeply about our wildlife, our community and our lake.