National gong for canal volunteers
THE team which helped Macclesfield Canal earn a coveted Green Flag has been honoured in a national competition.
The Green Flag award is usually presented to green spaces such as parks, cemeteries, universities and community gardens to celebrate their high quality and value to the community.
But work to preserve the Macclesfield Canal, a 26-mile waterway which runs through Macclesfield from Marple to Kidsgrove, wowed judges so much that they deemed it worthy of the accolade.
The group responsible have now been named the winners of the ‘Community and Volunteering’ category at the Living Waterways Awards, which celebrates the most exciting and inspiring waterway-based improvement projects in the UK.
David Baldacchino, waterway manager for the Canal and River Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award for our Macclesfield Canal Green Flag project, which is further recognition of the incredible amount of hard work put in by both staff and volunteers to achieve Green Flag status for the Macclesfield Canal.
“This project is now being used as a trailblazer by other organisations seeking similar independent benchmarks and there is huge pride among the volunteers who contributed to the achievement of the award, which has formed a springboard for growing our volunteer help.”
A team of 130 volunteers and 45 members of staff, who contributed almost 3,000 hours of work to clean up the canal, have been recognised through the awards.
They still continue to meet regularly, and carry out maintenance and improvements.
The Macclesfield Canal was one of the last canals to be built in the UK, opening in 1831.
It is regarded as one of the most beautiful and cleanest canals in the country.
Almost abandoned in the 1940s, the canal is considered a local heritage asset, which is used for walking, canal boating, canoeing, fishing and many other outdoor recreation activities.
Christopher Rodrigues CBC, Chair of the Living Waterways Awards Assessment Panel, said: “There is no doubt that this project has been inspiring.
“The vast majority of the work has been completed by volunteers and having achieved this coveted recognition, both staff and volunteer enthusiasm and pride has reached new levels.”