A PARK community group in Yate received a donation to help improve their wildlife conservation pond.

Developments will help to encourage birds and animals - including newts, frogs and toads - to use it.

The Friends of Brinsham Park group won the Conservation Foundation’s Wessex Watermark Award for £250 towards their on-going work to improve the park.

They collected the cheque at the Yate Town Council offices on Poole Court Drive this month, which will be used to help restore the park’s wildlife conservation pond that has become overgrown.

Sam McDonald from Friends of Brinsham Park said: “The pond could be a wonderful asset for the local children to learn about pond life.

“In its present state it is stagnant as hardly any light reaches it.”

They hope to pollard two trees which are blocking the sunlight from reaching the pond.

The wildlife conservation project also won the support of Tesco’s ‘Bags of Help’ funding after a public vote at four South Gloucestershire stores showed this was the most popular project for them to help.

This will enable the Friends of Brinsham Park to install a large pond liner with a dipping platform for children, as well as nesting boxes to attract birds, and plant wildflowers and insect loving plants.

Sam added: “Once the work is completed we are hoping that the frogs, toads and great crested newts that used to inhabit the pond will return.”

“We look forward to a living pond which will add to the biodiversity and pleasure to Brinsham Park.”

The Wessex Watermark Award have funded over 900 environmental projects within the Wessex Water area, and their conservation projects are judged by a panel and chaired by the broadcaster and environmental campaigner David Bellamey.