A SCHEME to encourage more people to discover the joys of the River Esk has won a funding boost from the Postcode Lottery.

The river rises on the North York Moors and runs a 28-mile course, including through Eskdale, before emptying into the North Sea at Whitby.

The Yorkshire Esk Rivers Trust has been awarded £10,000 to run a programme called Discovering the Esk, which brings local rural communities together in caring for the river and its catchment area.

It encompasses four different initiatives including a fishing club for young people, monitoring aquatic invertebrates, and “adopt a stream” project and an education scheme which brings salmon from the river into classrooms.

Catchment partnership officer Alex Cripps said: “Discovering the Esk will help to educate people about the importance of our local river catchment, it enables us to engage with schools, develop young people’s angling skills and establish a network of people monitoring the Esk.

“It’s really exciting to be able to work on these projects and to provide expertise and education for future generations as well as advancing people’s skills and knowledge such as in wildlife identification.”