Press Releases
Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association (ECP&DA) received a Magic Little Grant of £500.00 through the partnership between Localgiving and Postcode Places Trust. This enabled us to purchase equipment for our regular Friday Volunteer Group to progress our partnership work with Canal & River Trust to remove the offside vegetation along the Erewash Canal.
Postcode Places Trust is a grant-giving charity funded by players of the People's Postcode Lottery.
Localgiving is the UK’s leading membership and support network for local charities and community groups: www.localgiving.org/magic-little-grants/
You can play and support more charities through https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/
Come and join us on 13th April 2024 at Northampton University – Creative hub. The Conference is a must for anyone involved in Waterway Restoration and volunteering and a prime opportunity to network and have in depth discussions with experts across the field.
The theme of this year’s Conference, jointly organised by The Inland Waterways Association, Canal & River Trust and Buckingham Canal Society, is ‘Connected Working in Restoration’. Given the current funding restraints, the conference will focus on the importance of working in partnership and maintaining positive relationships with a broad range of people from landowners, local authorities, navigation authorities, community groups and volunteering bureaus, waterway and towpath users. Challenges and opportunities will be explored through examples and practical insights.
2024 IWA-CRT Waterway Restoration Conference
13th April 2024 - 10am to 3.30pm - registration at 9.30am. An optional guided tour will be happening during the extended lunch break.
Northampton University – Creative hub
University Drive Waterside Campus, Northampton, NN1 5PH
Booking fee: £10 including lunch and refreshments
Fund Britain’s Waterways plan weekend of activity
Fund Britain’s Waterways, the campaign group asking for fair Government funding to support the inland waterways infrastructure, are planning a weekend of campaign activity across the May Day Bank Holiday weekend (04 - 06 May 2024).
The weekend of action will highlight the impact of insufficient funding for Britain’s 5,000 miles of inland waterways. Events will be taking place across the country on waterways managed by different inland navigation authorities. It will coincide with IWA’s annual Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice in London, which this year will be themed on Fund Britain’s Waterways.
Boaters attending Cavalcade are invited to join a Campaign Cruise past the Houses of Parliament on 08 May, as the culmination of the weekend of action. Parliamentarians will be encouraged to view the event and express their support for the continued maintenance of the waterways to enable them to keep on delivering economic, health, environmental and well-being benefits.
Other planned events include:
03 – 04 May Ripon Motor Boat Club – Campaign Cruise to Ripon (North Yorkshire)
03 - 04 May Electrika at Brinklow Marina (Rugby)
04 May Gazebo and stall besides Johnsons Hillock locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, 10am - 4pm
04 May Swarkestone Boat Club Cruise (Derbyshire)
04 – 06 May IWA Canalway Cavalcade (London)
04 – 06 May Norbury Canal Festival (London)
08 May Campaign Cruise past the Palace of Westminster (London)
Host an event
Fund Britain’s Waterways are looking for more local groups to organise events during the weekend of action to spread the campaign message. Events can be as simple as a few boats gathered at a public location where flyers can be handed out and people can be encouraged to sign the petition.
If you or your organisation could organise an event over the weekend, please email Hazel Owen.
You can learn more about the Fund Britain's Waterways coalition by visiting the campaign website.
Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW) announces a May Day Bank Holiday Weekend of Action
After launching at the end of June 2023, six months later FBW has created an impressive coalition of member organisations totalling well over one hundred, representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters of inland waterways. A public petition has attracted close to 50,000 signatures. Three well-reported Campaign Cruises in Birmingham, Gloucester and past the Palace of Westminster on the Thames have substantially raised awareness of the challenges facing our canals and rivers and the need for action.
Our plans for 2024 include an important weekend of action over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend (4 to 6 May 2024) to highlight the impact of insufficient funding for Britain’s 5,000 miles of inland waterways.
The weekend of action is planned to take place across the country on waterways managed by different inland navigation authorities. It will coincide with IWA’s annual Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice in London, which this year will be themed on Fund Britain’s Waterways.
Boaters attending Cavalcade are invited to join a Campaign Cruise past the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 8 May, as the culmination of the weekend of action. Parliamentarians will be encouraged to view the event and express their support for the continued maintenance of the waterways to enable them to keep on delivering economic, health, environmental and well-being benefits.
We hope that activities taking place across the country over the weekend will attract local and national media attention, building up to the Westminster Cruise on 8 May for which we will be aiming for national coverage.
We are looking for local groups to organise events during the weekend of action to spread the word that waterways need to be properly funded to stop them from falling into decline. Events can be as simple as a few boats gathered together at a “public” location where flyers can be handed out and people be encouraged to sign our petition or get more involved.
If you or your organisation could organise an event over the weekend, please contact Hazel Owen hazelowen.awcc@outlook.com and 07929 204811.
Please also contact Hazel if you can help promote the FBW cause at any events you are involved in at any time throughout the year.
About Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW): FBW brings together a wide range of organisations with the sole purpose of campaigning collectively for an increase in government funding of Britain’s inland waterways to avert their decline, and to promote awareness of the huge economic, environmental and social well-being value they provide. Established in June 2023, it already has over 100 members representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters of inland waterways.
Contact:
For further information about Fund Britain’s Waterways contact info@fundbritainswaterways.org.uk
St. Pancras Cruising Club
From Colin Parlett
Vice Commodore
27th January 2024
Introduction
1. Our club welcomes you to London's waterways. We hope you will take advantage of the options on offer to you during this busy boating weekend. As with all tideway boating, prevailing and forecast weather conditions form an important element of our passage planning. Be assured that the members organising these cruises are knowledgeable and experienced and will make sound decisions on when to proceed and when to hold back.
2. Here is the outline programme, with the options available to you:
a. Friday 9th August at 1900
We are welcome in the Cruising Association, adjacent to Limehouse Lock, for the mandatory safety brief, followed by a communal supper. These are always jolly affairs and enable crews to get to know each other. Overnight moorings will be arranged in Limehouse Basin and Cut.
b. Saturday 10th August
Option 1 - During the morning, explore Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Limehouse Cut, and the Lee Navigation.
Option 2 - In the afternoon, using East London locks, join Bow Creek for a gentle tideway run to Creek Mouth and the confluence of the Rivers Lea and Thames. Turn about, and retrace the route along Bow Creek, lock-off the tide, and then continue to Limehouse for overnight moorings.
Option 3 - Weather permitting we can continue on the Thames, circumnavigate the Isle of Dogs, explore Deptford Creek, and lock-off the river at Limehouse Lock at high tide. Moor overnight at Limehouse.
c. Sunday 11th August
Option 4 - Depart Limehouse Lock and join the ebbing tide for a run downriver. Pass through the Thames Barrier and continue to Margaretness. Cross the river and stem the last of the ebb tide. On the first of the flood retrace our route to Limehouse Lock. Moor overnight at Limehouse.
Option 5 - For those who wish, there's now the opportunity to continue upriver through the Capital to Brentford and Teddington, where we shall leave the tidal Thames for overnight mooring. In the days following, progress is under you own arrangements.
3. Our club is located at St. Pancras Lock. Please do call in for fuel, drinking water, general waste and recycling disposal, Elsan, and pumpout. Occasionally, visitor moorings may be available. Details can be found in the Association handbook and on the website.
4. Much more information will be available to you when we have an indication of boat numbers. So don't delay, contact them today via WhatsApp or email. Please provide your boat details and preferred options. If you have specific questions about the cruises being offered, John or Andrew will be pleased to respond. They may be contacted at:
a. John Serocold, nb Thermopylae, Acting Chair of London Region, at:
<john.serocold@gmail.com>, and 07801 099 350
b. Andrew Phasey, nb Doris Katia, National Executive Committee Vice Chair, at:
<theoldmainline@fastmail.fm>, and 07850 753 633
-->
Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW) to provide members the opportunity to quiz Navigation Authorities
FBW was launched at the end of June 2023 in response to the inadequate funding and deteriorating state of Britain’s network of canals and navigable rivers. Despite the widespread appreciation of the value of this unique and well-loved national asset and the benefits it delivers, the Government appears intent on significantly reducing its funding. Through FBW more than 110 organisations are campaigning together for national and local government to act now and protect the public benefit and natural capital of our waterways.
FBW’s activities to date have focused on raising awareness of the challenges facing our canals and rivers and the message that increased and sustainable funding is needed. Three well-reported Campaign Cruises were held in 2023, in Birmingham, Gloucester and past the Palace of Westminster on the Thames. In 2024 there will be a weekend of action over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend (4 to 6 May 2024). This will comprise a series of events across the country on waterways managed by different inland navigation authorities, in addition to IWA’s annual Canalway Cavalcade at Little Venice in London. It will culminate in a second Campaign Cruise past the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 8 May, when Parliamentarians will be invited to view the event and express their support for the continued maintenance of the waterways.
At the same time as campaigning for increased funding for navigation authorities, FBW recognises the importance of those navigation authorities being able to explain how they are making the best possible use of funds for the waterways. FBW will therefore be holding sessions with major navigation authorities, starting with the Canal & River Trust on Wednesday 10 April 2024.
The sessions will be chaired by FBW and live streamed to FBW members, with a recording and written notes of the meeting to be made publicly available at a later date. FBW members are invited to submit detailed written questions, which will be collated and submitted to each navigation authority two weeks in advance of its meeting. FBW will then ask the questions in the meeting and the navigation authority will provide detailed answers, both in person in the meeting and also in writing.
Les Etheridge, Chair of FBW said “By arranging these sessions we are enabling FBW members to ask questions on any area including those where reservations are publicly expressed. These will be positive and constructive sessions which we hope will benefit both the navigation authority and FBW”
About Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW): FBW brings together a wide range of organisations with the sole purpose of campaigning collectively for an increase in government funding of Britain’s inland waterways to avert their decline, and to promote awareness of the huge economic, environmental and social well-being value they provide. Established in June 2023, it already has over 110 members representing hundreds of thousands of users and supporters of inland waterways.
Contact:
For further information about Fund Britain’s Waterways, or to submit a question for the Canal & River Trust session (by 13 March 2024), contact info@fundbritainswaterways.org.uk