A NEW drinking fountain for people and pooches has been installed at Winton Recreation Ground.

The new addition was put in place in time for National Refill Day, which took place on Wednesday (June 19), and is a public awareness campaign to prevent single-use plastic bottles pollution.

During the initiative, people were encouraged to carry a reusable water bottle and refill on the go.

The new drinking fountain has three water dispense areas, one for our four-legged friends, one for people and one to refill water bottles.

Lopes Edwards, a regular dog walker at Winton Rec said: "It is great to have this drinking fountain fitted, our kids often play football here and I no longer have to bring refreshments for them.

“You can see how much Sol is enjoying the water too.”

The drinking fountain was funded by through the Bournemouth Local Improvement Fund. The fund provides money to be spent on projects recommended by local councillors in consultation with their communities.

The Bournemouth Parks Foundation, a local charity dedicated to enhancing our parks, also donated to the project.

BCP Council member Simon Bull,m representing Winton East ward, said: "I am really pleased to see the water fountain installed at Winton Recreation Ground, especially as it is being so well used by park users and their dogs.

“It is a great way to encourage people to reduce their use of plastic, particularly with National Refill Day this week."

Meanwhile, Bournemouth Parks Foundation manager Cathi Farrer said: "It is brilliant to being able to fund another drinking fountain in one of our beautiful parks.

“We want to create networks of drinking fountains across Bournemouth’s parks to help reduce the number of throwaway plastic bottles people use and protect wildlife from plastic pollution.

“We’d love to install more drinking fountains in our parks across Bournemouth. If any companies would be interested in sponsoring a drinking fountain we’d love to speak to you.”

Visit https://www.bournemouthparksfoundation.org.uk/our-projects/doggie-drinkers-and-water-fountains/ for further information.