A CASH boost will help keep a vital water supply to water meadows in Purbeck.

The Bere Regis Parish Council’s Souls Moor community land project has received £350 from Wessex Water’s Watermark fund.

At a cheque hand over last week, organisers of the project in Bere Regis said they were delighted to receive the grant and invited Wessex Water to come back in the summer and see the water meadow in full bloom.

The fund provides money for environmental projects within the Wessex Water area. The project is in its second year and has already helped 900 organisations.

The £350 cash will go to supplying water for grazing animals on the land. Traditionally the water meadow was used to graze cattle and the grazing provided a rich population of water meadow species, project organisers said.

But when grazing stopped in 1999 the landscape changed radically, with scrub and rank vegetation replacing the once rich plant life.

This is how Bere Regis Parish Council and village volunteers found the area when they took over the management of Souls Moor in 2012.

Ian Ventham, chairman of the Parish Council, said the community was delighted to receive the money, which would give water to the animals currently grazing the land.

He said: “One of our main priorities is to provide a regular supply of water for the grazing animals and this is how our Watermark cheque will be spent.”

He added: “Since 2012 volunteers have begun restoring Souls Moor’s botanical richness and interest and grazing stock is an integral part of the management for wildflowers.

“The whole community has been involved in restoring this land and the volunteer group work goes from strength to strength.

“We are delighted to start the year with this Watermark award and will invite Wessex Water to return in summer when the wildflowers are at their best.”