Trustees' Report and Accounts - Canal & River Trust

Of all the people that we work with, boaters
are among the most informed, passionate
and dedicated. Our new governance
structure means they now have a voice at
all levels of the organisation – from seats
on Council to the new navigation advisory
group, and we are benefiting from their
knowledge and commitment.
We have also introduced new ways
to communicate with boaters and involve
them with our work. A monthly e-newsletter,
including contributions from boaters, is
helping to keep boaters up to date and
a dedicated Facebook page is gathering
around 110 ‘likes’ each month. As well as
improving understanding and awareness
of our work, these communications give
this important group more opportunities
to contribute their thoughts and we are
more able to respond quickly to questions
and issues.
Since we launched in July more than
2,700 people have joined us as Friends of
the Canal & River Trust and their regular
monthly donations are helping to care for
our precious waterways.
We work with a range of public and
third sector partners, including local
authorities, Heritage Lottery Fund,
Welsh Government, Transport for London,
Sustrans, Groundwork and Canoe Wales,
who collectively contributed nearly £6
million to help us restore and tell the story
of our canals and rivers, improve access
and encourage communities to discover,
enjoy and care for our waterways.
Together with Transport for London we are
improving a mile-long stretch of towpath
in Islington, the busiest section of our
2,000 mile network across England &
Wales. Used by up to 500 cyclists and
300 pedestrians during the morning peak
period, the towpath has been enhanced to
make it easier for the hundreds of walkers,
cyclists, joggers and boaters, who use it
every day to share the space. An excellent
example of waterways’ contribution to
people’s health & wellbeing.
Working with Arts Council England, we
introduced an innovative and engaging
arts programme to attract and inspire new
supporters. Initiatives include carving a
series of short poems by well-known poets
into new lock balance beams; Pleasance
Theatre presented new comedy along
London’s waterways before touring canals
from London to the Edinburgh Festival and
as part of the Cultural Olympiad, the Royal
Opera House presented a brilliant version
of the Owl and the Pussy Cat on the Grand
Union and Regent’s Canals and on the
Olympic Park waterways.
We also joined with the Poetry Society
to announce the first Canal Laureate,
boat-dweller and archaeologist Jo Bell. In
her first few months, Jo has worked with
650 people from all backgrounds to build
connections with their local canal, develop
their understanding of language and create
new poetry inspired by our waterways.
Making sure we have the skills for the
future is important to us because the
survival of our waterways depends so
much on expertise. In September 2012, in
partnership with Leeds College of Building,
we launched our first apprenticeship
scheme. Twenty-two young people are
learning new skills and gaining valuable
qualifications so we can continue to care
for our canals and rivers in the future.
On-line, we launched a new, more
interactive website which has been viewed
by over 725,000 people. We also have
nearly 10,000 Twitter followers and over
2,000 friends on Facebook. Our online
presence enables us to reach and interact
with more people than we ever possibly
could through our canalside offices,
museums and attractions.
Above left: Discovering the
wonder of our waterways
with Canal & River Explorers
Above middle: Waterways
Recovery Group volunteers
help us restore Montgomery
Canal towpath
Above top right: Watersports
on the Rochdale Canal
Above bottom right:
Canal Laureate Jo Bell
Trustees’ Report & Accounts 7