By Molly Lee
A new project to restore Leicester’s River Soar has received more than £500,000 of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The project, Restoring the Soar, aims to improve the river corridor from West Bridge to Watermead Park while preserving its heritage.
Leicester City Council, the Canal & River Trust, and Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust are partnering on the project.
Samantha Woods, Project Manager, said: “We know that rivers in general are really important for both wildlife and for people.
“It’s also a really important feature of the city in terms of the lives of people, the history and the heritage.”
Currently, the project is in the developmental phase, where ideas are explored, and consultations take place to create a robust programme of interventions.
An officer from the Wildlife Trust has already completed a series of ‘walk and talk’ sessions where they walk along the river and talk about ideas with members of the community.
A common theme of discussion and concern surrounds the issue of litter which many find disturbing and unpleasant.
However, people also respond positively about the river as it is used a lot for commuting and as a place for families to walk.
“We really wanted to focus on the north side because we think that there has been less investment there and with all these new communities, we wanted to look at how we could bring people together,” said Samantha.
Issues with accessibility and public safety of the river corridor will also be focussed on.
Although the project has received funding through the fund, it must be sustainable over long term due to maintenance that will occur afterwards.
“We’re really excited to have this funding and this opportunity. We want to encourage people to come out and explore the river,” said Samantha.
If you would like to get involved in maintaining the natural environment of Leicester, you can get involved by volunteering.
If you have any experiences of the river or have any ideas for the project, you can share them by emailing nature.conservation@leicester.gov.uk.
In the coming months, there will be more opportunities to get involved with the consultation side of the project which will be posted on social media.
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