More volunteers wanted

THE Canal & River Trust is advertising for more volunteers to take over more jobs.

We are told to meet the growing demand from people to spend time helping to care for its waterways across England and Wales, the Trust is expanding the number and range of volunteering roles that if offers. Everything from lock keeper to teaching children about water safety; from inspiring youngsters to take up fishing to supporting its wide range of professional teams.

Richard Parry, Chief Executive states:

A new decade

“As we enter a new year, and a new decade, we are delighted that so many people want to support the Canal & River Trust and make a difference to their local community.

“On the waterways, community spirit is very much alive and well, with our canals and river navigations at the heart of such a diverse variety of villages, towns and cities across England & Wales . And, with so many ways to get involved, 2020 can be a year when more people take positive action for their local canal, for their community, and—because we know that volunteering and spending time outdoors, by water, is good for wellbeing—for themselves.”

Record number

We are told in 2019 Canal & River Trust saw record numbers of people volunteer 671,000 hours of their time to the waterways. There was a 27% increase in the number of volunteer lock keepers across the network, to 1,130, and the first volunteer to record a staggering 10,000 hours of volunteering time since the charity’s formation in 2012.

The Trust is creating a wider range of volunteer roles:

Towpath rangers to welcome visitors and boaters.

Education volunteers to work with schools to teach pupils about water safety and anything and everything canal-related.

Let’s activity volunteers for the Trust’s Let’s Fish programme help host hundreds of free learn-to-fish events for all the family.

National Waterway Museums and attractions offering volunteer opportunities.

Towpath Taskforce that can include lock-painting, hedge-planting, weeding gardens, litter-clearance from land and water, repairing towpaths.