It will be wet and worthwhile this coming weekend in Midsomer Norton.

There is a special Bristol Avon Rivers Trust for a fun day out at your local river on Saturday.

Get involved in a river dip, scavenger hunt and mini raft building at Wellow Brook. It is part of the 'Blue Spaces' project.

Participants will need to bring their own wellies and waterproofs if they think they may get a bit wet!

If you want to sign up for the morning session in Midsomer or the afternoon session over in Peasedown, these are the links.

Morning session (10-12): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/river-dipping-event-tickets-401142667517

Afternoon session (12-2): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/river-dipping-event-tickets-401147602277

The recent heatwave throughout the UK has highlighted the fragility and importance of our rivers for our health, wildlife and the natural environment around us. Rivers are hugely important ecosystems that provide us with drinking water, transport, habitats for wildlife, a space to play and relax, irrigation for food production, energy and supporting many livelihoods. However, despite the importance of our rivers our connection with our local rivers has declined, with communities becoming disconnected with the natural environment around them.

Bristol Avon River Trust (BART) have launched its 'Our Blue Spaces Project' that aims to deliver community engagement opportunities to inspire and encourage local communities to learn more about their rivers, develop new skills, indulge in nature and meet new people in their community throughout the project. Through the 'Our Blue Spaces Project', BART plans to inspire individuals to consider action that they can take at home to protect our rivers and discover a new appreciation and passion for the natural environment around Midsomer Norton, Radstock and surrounding villages. the project will provide fun and exciting ways for all age groups to learn more about what lives within their local blue spaces and raising awareness of the pressures impacting on them.

The first event BART will host is a River Dipping event in Midsomer Norton on Saturday 1st October at a site along the Wellow Brook. The event will educate the community about the river, the water quality and how to identify the riverfly invertebrates that live there! Participants will be provided with nets to sample riverfly invertebrates and identify them. The river dipping session will also include more fun river-based activities such as mini raft building from natural materials and a river scavenger hunt!

Over the next few months, BART are also delivering a community Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS) event, where the team are working with Bath & North East Somerset Council to identify locations in Radstock for a series of SuDS planters, which harvests rainwater from the rooftops to water plants, which prevents rainwater from running directly into drains and into the combined sewage networks. The planters will be planted and looked after by the local community. During this event, members of the BART team will educate participants on SuDS and the benefits that they provide, and hopefully inspire individuals to incorporate more sustainable drainage in their own homes and gardens.

Individuals and community groups are most welcome to get involved in the River Dipping or SuDS events, and BART encourages all age groups to get involved. To register your interest or for more information, please get in touch with Molly via [email protected]