Bishop's Waltham residents organise volunteer group to care for swans

The volunteers watch over the birds, one adult and six cygnets, when they cross the B2177 between the south pond where they make their home and the north pond.

Susan Eyles, one of the original volunteers who helped found the group in September, said that it started after two of the cygnets died after being hit by vehicles while attempting to cross the road.

She said: “We lost two in a week, and it really highlighted the need for someone to watch over them.”

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The group now has 11 volunteers. This includes helping to feed them, making sure they don’t wander into the road when cars are passing, taking them to a swan rescue centre in Ringwood and stopping traffic when the swans want to cross from one side of the road to the other.

The volunteers act in shifts, often from 6.45am until it gets dark.

Some of the cygnets the volunteers are watching over (Image: Chris Atkinson)Volunteer Deane Bevan also started a Gofundme page to support the swans, managing to raise £200 in less than a day. He said: “People obviously like the swans, they have been very supportive. However, they are wild animals, and we have to be careful with them”.

The money raised will go towards food for the swans, with Deane saying that some will be set aside to be donated to the Swan Rescue Centre in Ringwood.

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The group also stated the importance of having traffic calming measures set up on the B2177.

Colin Bown, who volunteers with the group alongside his wife Jean, said: “It’s a big problem, not just for the swans but for the people too.

“Vehicles are very fast here, and we’ve already had dozens of ducks get hit by cars. We need some traffic calming measures to make it safer for older people or people with kids.”