Sanquhar Pond Group

Caring for one of Forres's best-loved green spaces — paths, water and wildlife, kept alive by volunteers.

The Sanquhar Pond Group — formerly the Sanquhar Dam Restoration Group — looks after Sanquhar Pond in the heart of Forres: the paths, the water and the wildlife that make it one of the town's best-loved green spaces.

They have given thousands of volunteer hours to build, clear and resurface the public walkways around the pond — the routes used every day by families, dog walkers and the nearby schools.

To save the pond itself, the group invested nearly £19,000 — backed by a £15,400 grant from the Berry Burn Community Fund — to dredge compacted silt, clear choking aquatic growth, and install silt traps and barriers that protect wildlife downstream, including the spawning eels of the Mosset Burn.

They have cleared invasive plants, planted native trees and shrubs, put up more than 30 bird and bat boxes, and installed around seven community benches — much of it handmade or donated.

Sustainable Planet is proud to champion the group’s work. It is exactly the hands-on, local care for nature and community we exist to support — and it connects to our wider work on the Mosset catchment and tackling invasive species.

Come and join us on a Saturday morning

The easiest way to help is simply to turn up. We meet every Saturday morning at 9:00 in the car park — pull on some gloves and we’ll find you a job and a warm welcome. We stop for tea and coffee at 10, and we’re always finished by about noon, so it’s a good morning out rather than a whole day gone. You don’t need any experience or tools, and there’s no sign-up and no commitment — come along for one Saturday and see how you get on. A few hours in the fresh air, good company, and a pond that’s all the better for your being there. Come and join us.

You can help by joining a work party, donating tools, plants or materials, or chipping in to the next big improvement — get in touch and we'll connect you.