Saintbridge Pond

NAME Saintbridge Pond
LOCATION Painswick Road / Askwith Road, Gloucester
MANAGING ORGANISATION Friends of Saintbridge Pond
CONTACT Ann Osborne, Chair of Friends of Saintbridge Pond T. 01452 422 548 E. ann@saintbridgepond.co.uk
WEBSITE www.saintbridgepond.co.uk

USED TO BE …
Saintbridge Pond was built in 1971 as a solution to a flooding problem caused by the construction of new housing. Left unattended, the area attracted litter and vandalism.

STORY
Fed up with the neglected appearance of and vandalism around the pond, a group of twenty residents formed the Friends of Saintbridge Pond in 1993. They set about clearing the pond - roughly the size of a football pitch - of rubbish, and cleaning the silt traps. Gloucester City Council provided a skip for the refuse and donated a nearby allotment.

The group joined the British Trust of Conservation Volunteers (BCTV) (link) in 2000. Grants from BCTV were used to cover insurance costs and to buy a store for tools.

NOW A…
The Pond now has a steady stream of visitors who come to enjoy the ducks, coots, moorhens and swans.

WHY IS IT SPECIAL?
The Pond has had a significant part to play in generating community cohesion: A store for tools was recently delivered and almost immediately broken into. “I asked them ‘Why?’” says Ann Osbourne, Chairperson of the Friends of Saintbridge Pond, “They said, ‘Well that’s what we do. Every night we break into sheds on the allotments.’” Ann made them a deal – if the boys agreed to help out at the pond the following Sunday their picture would be posted on the Friends’ website. They did help on that Sunday and have been no trouble ever since.

"It has been difficult, but if there's one thing I've learned it's that if you just plod on, in time things will improve."

Ann Osbourne, Chairperson of Friends of Saintbridge Pond