Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) are working with communities near the Bristol Frome to promote community ownership, engagement and enjoyment of the Bristol Frome, thanks to the Greggs Community Challenge Fund.

In response to repeated pollution issues in the Bristol Frome, Bristol Avon River Trust (BART) have set up the LoCATE Bristol Frome project. The project is working alongside the local communities in Bristol and the towns of Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Frampton Cotterell, to help the community develop a sense of ownership along the river and promote the Frome the valuable community asset that it is. The project has so far engaged with over 2140 people in the community through delivery of river dipping sessions, litter picks, a Waterblitz, Riverfly monitoring and ‘Eel in the Classroom’ project, sparking new found enthusiasm for river wildlife. One of their most engaging sessions has been their Eels in the Classroom Project, where approximately 100 elvers (young eels) were given to a class at St Johns’ Mead Primary School to rear up for a term. The children are given five weeks to take care of the eels, feeding them everyday and learning about all aspects of their lives. At the end of the five weeks, the school successfully released them back into their local stretch of the Bristol Frome. Harriet Alvis, Catchment Restoration Project Officer for Bristol Avon Rivers Trust, said:

“Funding from the Greggs Foundation has helped us deliver some really engaging events. Last week we were out surveying the river with University of the West of England students teaching the conservationists of the future and this week we are in the classroom educating children on the incredible lifecycle of the endangered eel. “We are so excited to have got so many people out learning about and appreciating their river. It is almost unheard of to have a public footpath following along the length a river so we are extremely lucky to have this with the Frome Valley Walkway and this is something we should all make the most of”.

To learn more about the LoCATE Bristol Frome project, please visit www.bristolavonriverstrust.org or contact Harriet at [email protected]