Today saw the launch of the new Friends of Cardiff Reservoirs with the presentations for the design of the new logo and the go-live of its website. The group is the natural successor to the Reservoir Action Group (RAG), a community action group, that campaigned for 15 years to prevent the proposed development of the Lisvane & Llanishen Reservoirs site for housing. RAG will continue to run alongside the new group until its reason for existing will come to an end when the reservoir site is reopened to the public by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) in the Autumn of 2022. The new group will, in conjunction with DCWW, be involved in volunteering activities at the site.
A working party lead by Bernard Adshead, Treasurer of RAG, has been working to set up everything necessary to establish the Friends group. This is the first time that DCWW have been involved in such a partnership and it is hoped that it will become a model that they can adopt on their other sites throughout Wales. Bernard along with the Chair of RAG, Richard Cowie, represents RAG on the EnRAW Project board , a Welsh Government funded grant that supports the improvement of the quality of the local environment and biodiversity, whilst broadening access to the wider population’s well-being.

The Friends’ logo was inspired by a design submitted in a competition in which junior school pupils at Rhydypenau Primary School were invited to take part. The winning design by Arushi de Silva, age 8, was then interpreted, on a voluntary basis, into a professionally designed logo by Tom Tribe of Cardiff-based design and marketing consultancy Design Tribe. Unfortunately the presentation of prizes to the three best designs had to be held virtually due to the current coronavirus restriction. The winners received gift vouchers provided by RAG whist all those entered were given a set of felt-tipped pens sponsored by Tribe Design. Bernard said: “I felt it was important that the Friends of Cardiff Reservoirs have a logo that illustrates why the site is so special, so we tasked the pupils to come up with a design that reflects what the reservoirs mean to the local community.

The submissions were fantastic and highlighted how much these young people knew about the reservoirs, even though they are too young to have ever visited the site as it has been virtually closed since 2010.” It is hoped that it will become as well recognised as the little blue tufted duck that could be seen on RAG logo all over North Cardiff when the campaign to save the reservoirs was in full swing.
The website has been designed by Martin Wilmore, also on a voluntary basis, and features pages on the history and ecology of the site and also has a News page on which details of activities and the like will be posted. The site also has the facility to allow people to join as members of the Friends group and can be found at www.friendsofcardiffreservoirs.org.
The Friends group will be formally constituted at an inaugural meeting in June (date to be confirmed) when the constitution will be adopted and a committee will be elected to run the group going forward. Anyone interested in joining the Friends group can find details of how to join on the Membership page of the website. Nominations are also required for the Executive Committee to guide the group forward and establish a working relationship with DCWW in terms of volunteering opportunities. If this interests you, details can be found on the Committee page of the website.
It is hoped that the Friends of Cardiff Reservoirs will build on the success of the Reservoir Action Group and help Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water make the site a fabulous asset for the whole of Cardiff.