What being named a SuDS Champion means to me
Marcus Gayle, Flood Risk Manager, London Borough of Lewisham & Founder, Spring Collective
Growing up in an urban area, I was always drawn to watery spaces. Streams, ponds, wetlands — they were rare places of calm and connection to nature in a city that often felt devoid of it. Those moments shaped how I see the role of water in our lives: not just as something to control, but as something that can restore balance, spark curiosity, and bring people together.
That’s why being named a 2025 SuDS Champion feels such a privilege. It’s recognition of the teams, partners, and communities I’ve been fortunate to work with, but also a reminder of why this work matters. Sustainable drainage isn’t only about reducing flood risk. Done well, it creates engaging, healthier spaces where people can find the same sense of connection I sought out as a child.
In Lewisham, we’ve transformed grey corners into rain gardens, daylighted culverts into wetlands, and brought SuDS into schools where children can play and learn alongside nature. These projects are practical — they slow water, cool streets, and protect homes — but they also change how communities experience their neighbourhoods. And when residents are involved from the start, they become places people look after and take pride in.
Through Spring Collective, I want to push this further: accelerating adaptation by working bottom-up, listening to communities, and creating networks of SuDS that deliver benefits across whole catchments. The challenges are urgent — climate change, biodiversity loss, urban overheating — but if we involve people in shaping solutions, we can respond faster and more effectively.
For me, this award isn’t about looking back. It’s encouragement to keep moving forward: to create more of those engaging, nature-rich spaces in our towns and cities, and to ensure future generations don’t have to seek them out — because they’ll already be woven into the fabric of where they live.