View this page in Welsh / Gweld y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
What We Are Doing for the Community
Volunteers
We are working with lots of volunteers on a range of projects, including:
 | A dedicated officer from Innovate Trust working weekly with up to 10 Innovate Trust volunteers – they have completed the most amazing work! |
 | A monthly conservation work party working on sites all over the catchment - this occurs usually on the first Wednesday of the month. |
 | Ad-hoc volunteer sessions working on a range of projects, with local businesses and organisations e.g. litter pick at Aberthaw, meadow raking with local community group, EGIS Engineering helping clear scrub for Beaver Enclosure.
|
We also run lots of training for volunteers to participate in Citizen Science projects including the following Surveys:
 | Adder and reptile – focussing in on emergence surveys and finding new locations in the catchment |
 | Water vole – looking for signs of the newly introduced water voles and monitoring their spread up and downstream |
 | Water Quality Monitoring through the Angling Trust of the River at various locations in the catchment on a monthly basis |
 | Smart River sampling of invertebrates In the rivers at 6 designated locations – this gives a very accurate picture of river health and is done twice a year |
 | Otter Survey – focussing on surveying the whole of the river catchment for signs of otter, including spraint (poo!), footprints, food remains and hopefully sightings! |
 | Invertebrates (Bugs!) – we are running several surveys, in partnership with Buglife, including Oil Beetles, Darkling Beetle and, next year, the Carrot Mining Bee |
To help out or learn a bit more about any of these surveys please contact thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.
Schools
Nuts for Trees project
Pupils from local schools collected and processed native tree seeds from their local areas, planting them in specially designed growing modules. These young trees are now being carefully nurtured in a local tree nursery and will continue to grow over the next two years. In the third year of the project, they’ll be planted to create new nature corridors across the River Thaw catchment. In October 2023, 275 pupils from 8 local primary schools took part in the project, contributing to a greener, more connected landscape for the future.
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River Thaw - Source to Shore Project
This programme began in October 2024 and offers a FREE, interactive, cross-curricular workshop for Key Stage 2 pupils in Vale of Glamorgan primary schools. Workshops will be delivered during Autumn Term 2, 2024 or Spring Term 1, 2025.
The workshop covers:
- River Thaw Catchment and Tributaries
- River Habitats
- Issues Affecting the River Thaw Landscape
- Wildlife of the River Thaw Landscape
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Elements of the activities can be adapted to fit the timetables of schools from 1 hour to half a day.
For more information or to put your name down for one of the workshops please email thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk or call the project team on 07395 364386.
Events
We’ve delivered a wide range of nature-themed events, including bat walks, beaver workshops, family nature days, rock pooling sessions, and guided nature walks.
These activities culminated in the Vale Nature Festival held in summer 2024 at Porthkerry Country Park, which attracted over 600 attendees.
Our events are promoted on our Facebook page and via Eventbrite, so keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to get involved.
Upcoming Event:
Nature Festival – Cosmeston
Location: Cosmeston Lakes Country Park
Date: 19 July 2025
Landowners / Farmers
We are able to visit local farms, wildlife sites, smallholders and provide advice, guidance and financial support for habitat works that improve wildlife connectivity across the Thaw Landscape.
Our leaflet explains briefly what we can offer and who can get involved – all that we require is a commitment to manage the improvements we fund for 10 years.
We are currently working with 58 landowners and have installed fencing, gates, ponds, hedgerows, orchards, managed meadows and collected local wildflower seed.
Partners We Are Working With
We’re working with a wide range of partners to support our work — some of whom have been involved from the very beginning, including IInnovate Trust, LNP and Waterloo Foundation. Our network continues to grow, with recent additions such as the Bat Conservation Trust, Glamorgan Bird Club, and CCR Energy.
Our Future
We are very keen to keep our amazing project going forward after our finish date of March 2026 and our busy searching for funding and new projects to include – do give us a call if you can help with any of this.
View this page in Welsh / Gweld y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
What We Are Doing for the Community
Volunteers
We are working with lots of volunteers on a range of projects, including:
| A dedicated officer from Innovate Trust working weekly with up to 10 Innovate Trust volunteers – they have completed the most amazing work! |
| A monthly conservation work party working on sites all over the catchment - this occurs usually on the first Wednesday of the month. |
| Ad-hoc volunteer sessions working on a range of projects, with local businesses and organisations e.g. litter pick at Aberthaw, meadow raking with local community group, EGIS Engineering helping clear scrub for Beaver Enclosure.
|
We also run lots of training for volunteers to participate in Citizen Science projects including the following Surveys:
| Adder and reptile – focussing in on emergence surveys and finding new locations in the catchment |
| Water vole – looking for signs of the newly introduced water voles and monitoring their spread up and downstream |
| Water Quality Monitoring through the Angling Trust of the River at various locations in the catchment on a monthly basis |
| Smart River sampling of invertebrates In the rivers at 6 designated locations – this gives a very accurate picture of river health and is done twice a year |
| Otter Survey – focussing on surveying the whole of the river catchment for signs of otter, including spraint (poo!), footprints, food remains and hopefully sightings! |
| Invertebrates (Bugs!) – we are running several surveys, in partnership with Buglife, including Oil Beetles, Darkling Beetle and, next year, the Carrot Mining Bee |
To help out or learn a bit more about any of these surveys please contact thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.
Schools
Nuts for Trees project
Pupils from local schools collected and processed native tree seeds from their local areas, planting them in specially designed growing modules. These young trees are now being carefully nurtured in a local tree nursery and will continue to grow over the next two years. In the third year of the project, they’ll be planted to create new nature corridors across the River Thaw catchment. In October 2023, 275 pupils from 8 local primary schools took part in the project, contributing to a greener, more connected landscape for the future.
|
|
River Thaw - Source to Shore Project
This programme began in October 2024 and offers a FREE, interactive, cross-curricular workshop for Key Stage 2 pupils in Vale of Glamorgan primary schools. Workshops will be delivered during Autumn Term 2, 2024 or Spring Term 1, 2025.
The workshop covers:
- River Thaw Catchment and Tributaries
- River Habitats
- Issues Affecting the River Thaw Landscape
- Wildlife of the River Thaw Landscape
|
|
Elements of the activities can be adapted to fit the timetables of schools from 1 hour to half a day.
For more information or to put your name down for one of the workshops please email thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk or call the project team on 07395 364386.
Events
We’ve delivered a wide range of nature-themed events, including bat walks, beaver workshops, family nature days, rock pooling sessions, and guided nature walks.
These activities culminated in the Vale Nature Festival held in summer 2024 at Porthkerry Country Park, which attracted over 600 attendees.
Our events are promoted on our Facebook page and via Eventbrite, so keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to get involved.
Upcoming Event:
Nature Festival – Cosmeston
Location: Cosmeston Lakes Country Park
Date: 19 July 2025
Landowners / Farmers
We are able to visit local farms, wildlife sites, smallholders and provide advice, guidance and financial support for habitat works that improve wildlife connectivity across the Thaw Landscape.
Our leaflet explains briefly what we can offer and who can get involved – all that we require is a commitment to manage the improvements we fund for 10 years.
We are currently working with 58 landowners and have installed fencing, gates, ponds, hedgerows, orchards, managed meadows and collected local wildflower seed.
Partners We Are Working With
We’re working with a wide range of partners to support our work — some of whom have been involved from the very beginning, including IInnovate Trust, LNP and Waterloo Foundation. Our network continues to grow, with recent additions such as the Bat Conservation Trust, Glamorgan Bird Club, and CCR Energy.
Our Future
We are very keen to keep our amazing project going forward after our finish date of March 2026 and our busy searching for funding and new projects to include – do give us a call if you can help with any of this.
