A project to slow the flow of water into the River Cain has been completed at Llanfyllin High School.

The school’s new ‘Rain Garden’ was opened on Friday, September 28, and acts as a multi-functional Sustainable Drainage System, designed to reduce the amount of surface water into water courses and help prevent localised flooding. The project was made possible by the Arwain River Friendly Severn Project.

It was part of a day at Llanfyllin High School which saw the Severn Rivers Trust teaming up with Andri Magnason, writer of the internationally acclaimed Blue Planet story.

As part of the event Llanfyllin High School’s head of literacy organised a series of workshops for all of year ten, which also included a workshop with year six pupils from Llanfyllin Primary School. The workshops were part of an environmental arts day centred around the new Rain Garden which culminated in a presentation of poetry, theatre and literature by the students.

Lisa Barlow of the Severn Rivers Trust said she was delighted with how the project had turned out.

“Pupils from the Llanfyllin High School Eco Committee worked with us at Severn Rivers Trust to identify localised flooding issues at the school and then designed a solution in the form of the new Rain Garden,” she said.

“It is built of stone with a metalwork covering designed by Design & Technology students at the High School and made by Stokes of Oswestry. We could not be more pleased with the outcome.”

The Mayor of Llanfyllin Cllr Simon Baynes added: “This is a great initiative by Llanfyllin High School, the Severn Rivers Trust and Arwain and has been enthusiastically received by pupils at the High School. Practical examples of environmentally friendly projects like the Rain Garden are the best way to teach young people how to save the planet for future generations.”