We are the Forest Town Nature Conservation Group (FTNCG), a volunteer-led charity run by Mansfield residents. We started as a local ‘friends group’ for the whole of Forest Town in 2011 and became registered charity no 1157957 in 2014 when the community supported us to buy Spa Ponds Nature Reserve.
Spa Ponds, also known locally as ‘Gara Ponds’, is a site owned and managed by our group. It can be accessed from the south via the Clipstone Drive entrance in Forest Town, opposite the White Gates Pub. It can also be accessed from Mansfield Woodhouse via Spa Lane and Packman’s Bridge.
Click here for more information on Spa Ponds (including how to find it)
Click here for more information about the Forest Town Nature Conservation Group
Events and Volunteering Opportunities
Weather permitting, forthcoming Spa Ponds Volunteer Work Sessions (starting at 10 am) include:
- Saturday 10th June (co-led by Shlomo and Samantha)
- Saturday 1st July – FTNCG AGM (from 10:15am at Kingsway Hall, NG19 0DU)
We meet at the Clipstone Drive entrance to the Spa Ponds site. We have kindly received permission from the Whitegates Hotel pub (2 Clipstone Road East, NG19 0HS) for volunteers to be able to use their car park for our work sessions.
We rely on volunteers – including corporate volunteers – to manage the Spa Ponds Nature Reserve and to keep track of the wildlife living in and around Forest Town. We are grateful to all those who so kindly donate time and money to support our work, including a range of community organisations, agencies, funders, and businesses.
If you would like to know more about volunteering with FTNCG please read the relevant sections of this website, and feel free to reach out to us by sending an email to spa.ponds@gmail.com with any questions and offers of support.
If you would like to join the FTNCG mailing list then please email spa.ponds@gmail.com and you will then be informed of upcoming work sessions, etc. Being on the mailing list means you will also be informed of any last-minute cancellations due to weather.
You can read our generic risk assessment at: http://foresttown.net/nature/FTNCG_Generic_Risk_Assessment.docx