The Friends of Cherry Hinton Brook received a grant of £1,700 for its project looking at habitat restoration along Cherry Hinton Brook.

The Friends of Cherry Hinton Brook is a local voluntary group that arranges a number of activities designed to help keep Cherry Hinton Brook clear of rubbish and in a healthy state, whilst also restoring the habitat and flow of the river.

Cherry Hinton Brook is a chalk stream that provides habitat for many species and acts as a crucial corridor for wildlife sites in the city of Cambridge. The channel has been straightened over time, leaving a slow-flowing stream with reduced habitat diversity. With help from Cambridge City Council and the Wild Trout Trust, the group worked to put flow deflectors and gravel riffles along a 1.7km stretch of the stream, adding diversity to the flow and creating habitats for water voles, fish and other wildlife. 

The Friends of Cherry Hinton Brook worked closely with The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire to deliver this project.

The group also used the PEBBLE fund to build community engagement and involvement for the Brook. It held a number of litter picking days, clearing the banks and channel of litter and cleaning up both the banks and the stream bed. The group produced some publicity materials, bringing more community attention to the importance of the brook.

The group continues to work with the local community, building awareness of the importance of Cherry Hinton Brook and doing litter picks at least twice a year, which are supported by RiverCare.