How will Canalathon be enforced?

Published: Thursday, 20 April 2023

I MUST agree with you asking how  'Canalathon' by CaRT will be enforced, writes T. Lang.

I would have thought like the professional sponsored events it would have been enforced with a mobile app, it keeping checks on a contestants progress. But not so, it is all done it says by email, but how that can be I cannot imagine, as it seems wide open to fiddling, but if CaRT is getting the cash perhaps it doesn't matter!

Helps nature flourish

The first cause for the event, CaRT tells us—'£100 helps nature flourish. Your fundraising could help plant 18 apple, pear or plum trees which blossom for insects in spring, and go on to produce fruit to feed birds, animals and people in autumn'.

It does go on to say—£200 protects our heritage. The money you raise could help protect and ensure the long-term survival of our 200-year-old heritage structures, which have become more vulnerable in the face of climate change.

JohnOxfordThen finally we have—£300 makes cities greener. Your donations could help upgrade urban towpaths for walkers, runners and cyclists, providing greener ways to commute and exercise.

Insects and towpaths

So it is insects and towpaths again, but for the life of me I just cannot see this interest in insects as the waterways are bounded by vegetation, too much in fact—and insects are used as an excuse for not cutting down the vegetation between the towpath and canal. [John Clayton's pictures shows the trees on the Oxford Canal.]

Which itself will cause more work as the trees grow and their roots penetrate into the canals and so cause leakage that will then require attention.

CaRT will be getting nothing from me if that is how it is to be spent.