Communications Update 18Th March 2016
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Communications Update 18th March 2016 News Round up It’s been a quacking good week for news! Read about the duck coverage and more ... The Trust’s campaign to encourage people to avoid feeding ducks white bread ‘junk food’ was reported far and wide: • National press coverage included the Daily Telegraph , Daily Express, Daily Mirror , Independent i, Independent, Daily Star (14/3/15) , and the Daily Mail (15/3/16) and Times T2 (16/3/16). The Guardian’s G2 (16/3/16) featured its own primary research about ducks’ preferred snacks (…and the winner was sunflower seeds) • National environment manager Peter B irch was interviewed by weather presenter Carol Kirkwood on BBC Breakfast as well as live on the Chris Evans’ breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 (14/3/15). He also gave a down-the-line studio interview live to Sky News (14/3/16) • Mark Robinson had a great chat with Adrian Chiles on BBC Five Live (14/3/15), gave an interview to Sky News Radio (which syndicates news to 280 commercial radio stations nationwide), BBC Radio Scotland (14/3/16) and BBC Radio Berkshire (16/3/16) • ITV Wales (15/3/16) spoke to ecologist Stuart Moodie about the story • Ecologist Laura Mullholland spoke to BBC Radio Shropshire (15/3/16) • The story made the news on CBBC Newsround and even went international, including being reported as far away as Australia The Sunday Times (13/3/16) has an article about living afloat in the capital – but provides a balanced view about the costs and inconveniences of living on water Outdoor Photography magazine (1/4/16) suggests seven river and canal walks which is says are ‘wonderful places to visit’ and at this time of year are ‘positively buzzing with wildlife’ Customer operations manager Duncan Davenport gave a great interview to BBC Radio Shropshire (11/3/16) about £250k of restoration works underway at Tyrley, Adderley and Audlem lock flights on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border – National press officer Maeve Thompson gave a great interview to ITV regional TV (14/3/16) about the reopening of Sheffield Lock on the Kennet & Avon Canal following essential repairs In social media: Last Thursday, we had our first ever virtual open day and tweeted live from London’s Docklands as a 160 tonne lock gate was removed. This worked really well on Twitter and our tweets on the day reached 90,218 people and gained a total 2,437 engagements (likes, retweets, post clicks) The duck campaign has had a huge amount of social media pick-up including coverage from Sky News (3.03m Twitter followers & 4.8m Facebook fans), Independent (1.81m Twitter followers), Telegraph (1.64m Twitter followers) and Daily Mirror (691k Twitter followers). We also made a video which is performing well with 893 views on YouTube, 3.5k views on Facebook and 356 views on Twitter so far. It’s also our best ever performing post on Facebook reaching 52,071 people In the week ahead we’ll continue to promote the duck campaign as well as things to do in the Easter holidays And coming up: Radio shows in London are being invited to come and broadcast t heir programmes from the Trust’s community boat Jena in the spring or summer The Trust’s ‘What Lurks Beneath’ campaign will be promoted to the media next week. The campaign co-exists with winter open days and also aims to inform and educate the pu blic about the issue of rubbish in the waterways. We will be tying in the Bike Fish event at Limehouse Cut on Wednesday as a news hook On Monday, The Restoration Man, presented by architect George Clarke will film a local history segment about the Caldon Canal including taking a trip on a historic narrowboat The BBC’s research and development team is visiting the Rodale Canal on Tuesday to test a new 360 degree camera with a view to further Slow TV filming (which itself was a big hit on BBC4 last year) The West Midlands Waterway Partnership is holding a public meeting next Wednesday to drum up public support for the restoration of the Bradley Arm Canal BBC Look North are out filming dredging work along the Rochdale Canal following the Boxing Day floods We’ll be promoting the conclusion of maintenance works on the Ashton Canal lock flight And this weekend we’re expecting a feature in the Tra vel Section of the Sunday Telegraph following a visit by the journalist to Anderton Boat Lift More about our healthy Ducks Campaign Ducks up and down the country are benefiting from thinner waistlines and cleaner homes after figures released this week show you're choosing to feed them healthier treats. The new data shows a 20% drop in the number of people feeding ducks bread – over 80,000 fewer loaves each year. And the good new s continues, as the number of people feeding ducks healthier snacks such as seeds, fruit and vegetables has doubled. Despite the positive changes however and the overwhelming public response over the last 12 months, there’s still work to be done as a hefty 3.5 million loaves of bread are still being thrown into canals, rivers, ponds and lakes every year and potentially polluting the environment. Today, ahead of the official start of spring and at a time when thousands of new ducklings are due to hatch on its waterways, we're calling on you to continue your good work and spread the word even further. It only takes a few simple changes such as swapping bread for healthy food that is closer to a duck’s natural diet – like oats, corn or peas. If everyone avoids going to the same duck-feeding hotspots and exercises portion control that would also make a big difference. For more details about the campaign visit the ‘keeping our ducks healthy’ page on the website. There is also a fun film to watch! Tell us what you think…about our new website Since we launched our new-look website in October 2015, we’ve had lots of helpful feedback from you on what you like, and what could be improved further. We've created a quick survey to help us to understand a bit more detail, and to help focus the efforts of the website team on the improvements that will make the biggest difference Click here to complete the survey. Events Need to walk off those Easter eggs? Here’s a couple of nice walks taking place on Easter Sunday • Discovering the Regent's Canal Enjoy a guided walk along the lovely Regent's Canal. Sunday 27 March 10:00am - 12:30pm Join us for a guided walk exploring the history of the Regent's Canal between Islington and Camden. Meet at 10:00 at Angel Station. The event is free of charge, but donations to the Canal & River Trust are welcome. The walk will finish at approximately 12:30 at Camden Market. To book your space email [email protected] • IWA towpath walks: King's Cross to Camden The Regent’s Canal is one of London’s best-kept secrets. Get your walking boots on and join us on a journey to lively Camden. Event details 27th March 2016 2:30pm - 4:30pm Meet us at King's Cross taxi rank on the 27 March at 2:30pm for a group walk, from King’s Cross to Camden. Remember to wear suitable clothes and footwear. Normal charge: £10 Concessionary and Student rate: £8 No prior booking necessary. Or if you just want a leisurely Easter activity Easter Open Day at Stourport Basin 27th March & 28th March 2016 10:00am - 4:00pm Stourport Wharf Severnside Stourport Basins Stourport Worcestershire DY13 9EN Launch of Brindley 300 Stourport and Brindley’s Boats Open day in Stourport Basin including: Spinning at The Old Ticket Office, Easter hens at Bramble, The heritage working boat Scorpio Barney the Boat Horse at The Tontine Stables Email [email protected] for more details • Waterway Restoration Workshop 2016 Bookings are open for the Waterway Restoration Workshop 2016, which will take place on Saturday the 23rd of April. Austin Court Birmingham, West Midlands B1 2NP This year the event will be held at Austin Court, once a metal and nail merchants, now an impressive venue in central Birmingham in the Brindley place development. The theme of this year’s workshop is 'Why the blue and the green matter'. The workshop will look at the following topics: Where does water come from - and linking to the main system. Environmental issues. State of the Nation Report. Forecasting the benefits of your canal restoration project. Writing a restoration strategy. Fundraising for your restoration project. Using social media to get the word out. We will use the same format as previous workshops - large group sessions, with breakout seminars. Bring a friend! We are keen to encourage new faces into the canal restoration movement. An additional space is available to each canal restoration trust/society so they can bring along a new volunteer from their group who is interested in getting more involved. Book a place here 2016 Living Waterway Awards 3 weeks to go!! Time is running out to enter your group or organistation for this year’s awards The 2016 Living Waterways Awards are here and we're calling for waterway organisations and groups across the UK to put forward their engaging, innovative and inspirational projects. With seven awards up for grabs be sure to apply before 16 March. Led by an independent panel of experts from the voluntary, environmental, arts, heritage, engineering and architecture sectors, the Living Waterways Awards celebrate the fantastic work done by individuals, communities and organisations to improve their canals, rivers, lochs and lakes making them exciting places to live, learn and spend time.