Communications Update 24th March 2016

News Round up

Before we break up for Easter, have a quick look at the waterway stories from the week...

· You may have heard about our campaign to raise awareness of the effect that dumped rubbish has on the nation’s on your morning commute today. The campaign, highlighting the weird and wonderful items that are found in our waterways, was mentioned on BBC Breakfast as well as Radio 4’s Today programme and the Chris Evans Show on Radio 2 . The story has also been picked up by The Guardian and has been one of the most read on the BBC News website this morning (Thursday 24 th March)

· The Sunday Telegraph (20/3/16) had a lovely feature about the Top Of The Word tours available at Anderton Boat Lift

· The Guardian (19/3/16) includes The National Waterways Museum’s Easter gathering at Ellesmere Port in its guides to Easter Days Out

· The Evening Standard (21/3/16) reports the recovery of a luxury 4x4 from the in Little Venice (having crashed through railings to plunge into the canal)

· BBC Look North’s early and late evening news (20/3/16) spoke to senior project manager Richard Spencer and volunteer Jon Stopp when they featured the dredging taking place on the following the Boxing Day floods

· The New Day (23/3/16) say 2,000 miles of canals and waterways ‘makes Britain great’ · Countryman magazine encourages people to try a free boating taster session as part of a series of open days organised by the Trust and Drifters Waterway Holidays

In social media:

· Our regular features have been our best performing posts on social this week. Friday Feeling performed particularly well on Twitter reaching 7,195 people (double our average post reach) and Monday Motivation reached 25,384 people on Facebook (five times our average post reach).

· We’re continuing to promote the Spring duck campaign across social media. @CharityComms (30,143 followers) shared one of our infographic with their followers as a good example of how to communicate success with supporters.

· We’ve now reached over 25,000 followers on the national Twitter page and over 37,000 fans on the national Facebook page.

And coming up next week:

· We’re speaking to Radio 4’s PM programme about a piece they are planning on the Trust’s licencing and mooring enforcement

· We are continuing to publicise our anti-litter campaign to national and regional media this week and next

· Sections of flood-damaged waterways in the Calder Valley are reopening following repairs needed as a result of the Boxing Day floods

· We’ll be announcing that we’ve been successful in securing Heritage Lottery funding for a project on the Pocklington Canal

· A story will be issued to media along the Staffs & Worcs Canal publicising the £1m dredging programme currently under way

· Sections of lighting along the canals in Birmingham are receiving an upgrade as part of a £250k investment

· We’ll be promoting volunteers carrying out a dry stone walling project on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Congratulations!

To our volunteer, Dek Owen, who was awarded ‘Towpath Talk Inaugural Volunteer of the Year’ at a presentation in Lincolnshire last week. Voted for by the readers, this is fantastic recognition of Dek’s hard work and contribution to the Trust and our waterways for almost 6 years. Dek, a passionate advocate for our waterways, was one of our very first volunteer rangers and has contributed thousands of hours to the Trust. He is based at Audlem on the Shropshire Union Canal where he’s the lead volunteer and organises weekday and weekend events for the volunteers. As well as his work at Audlem he’s supported us at lots of waterway events across the country and has also helped with national surveys.

Selima ‘Champions’

Selima ‘Champions’ are now in place to support the roll out of our Selima online volunteer expenses system. The team has been set up to provide help to both task managers and volunteers to use the new expenses payment process, from setting up profiles to submitting and approving expense claims and/or troubleshoot any problems.

To find out more and to contact your local Selima Champion please email [email protected]

Events

Here are some great ways to spend your Easter weekend

• Family fun fishing day on the Rochdale Canal

Come along and try your hand at fishing at this free event along the Rochdale Canal.

27th March 2016

10:00am - 3:00pm

Hopwood Arms

Middleton

Manchester M24 2RE

If you've ever wanted to try and have a go at fishing, this event is the perfect opportunity for you and your family to have a go for free.

All bait and tackle provided. There will also be licensed level 1 and 2 coaches on hand to help.

Everybody is welcome, no age limits. There will also be a prize given for the 'biggest' fish caught!

For more details please get in touch Jim Ridley 07905 906261.

No need to register, just turn up.

• 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.

• 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

2 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.

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, explains: “We are delighted to open the 2016 awards for entries and we look forward to finding out about and recognising the most inspiring and exciting waterway-based projects across the UK. “We are searching for those people and projects that have done the most to make a difference to the nation’s canals and rivers - transforming the places they pass through, and enriching the lives of all who use them.”

Christopher Rodrigues CBE, chairman of VisitBritain and chair of the awards’ independent panel of experts, adds: “It is thanks to the dedication and hard work of communities and organisations, both large and small, across the nation, that our waterways are the wonderful destinations they are today."

Award categories and awards timeline can been seen on the 2016 Living Waterways Award page on the website

Barging Round Britain – Series 2

Barging Round Britain with John Sergeant airs on ITV from Friday 22 nd April.

The 6 episode will cover

1. ; 2. Rochdale Canal; 3. ; 4. Worcester Canal; 5. Oxford Canal; 6. Regents Canal.