COMMENDING CHAPLAINS BEFORE THE LOCKDOWN
WE HAD hoped to carry photos of the presentations of our 2019 Towpath Talk Top Team awards in this edition but were in the process of arranging these when the lockdown restrictions came into force.
In the event we had managed to do one of these at the end of February – a commended award to Martin and Fiona Buck of the Waterways Chaplaincy North West team – at their monthly meeting in the Tom Rolt Centre at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port.
The other awards were posted out to the recipients to be presented to their teams once it is safe to do so. They all received commemorative plaques and certificates along with donations of £100 to their charities.
Overall winners Grantham Canal Society also received a letter confirming the prize of the day’s hire of a day boat kindly given by the awards’ main sponsor, the ABC Leisure Group. The Crusader Community Boat which won our new Community Boat Award received a £100 voucher to be spent at Midland Chandlers in Braunston, to whom we are also grateful for their support.
The lockdown and especially the need to protect the older and more vulnerable members of our society, many of whom are active in the voluntary sector, means that the very organisations towards which our Top Team awards are targeted are currently at a standstill.
But that does not mean they are not preparing for when restrictions are eventually lifted and life can start to return to normal. Writing in the April edition of the Grantham Canal Society’s Bridge newsletter, chairman Mike Stone questions what the lockdown will mean for a society that needs funds to operate successfully.
He points out that minimum operating cost of the society is about £25,000 per year which doesn’t include £20,000 committed match funding for the lock rebuilding project currently under way, nor the £20,000 needed to reinstate the slipway.
Calling for fundraising ideas, Mike appeals to members to help prevent the crisis having a massive impact on the society’s financial position this year by raising an amount, however small, to offset this reduction.
But on a more positive note, he writes: “The particularly good news is that the society has been approved as a contractor to the Canal & River Trust. This means the GCS can deliver properly planned and managed projects using volunteer labour without CRT staff present. This represents both a significant cost saving to the society and much greater flexibility to volunteer teams.”
See our interview with Mike on page 14 of this issue.
On its Facebook page, Crusader Community Boating, based in Northamptonshire, wrote on April 14: “On this bright and sunny morning we should have been running our first trip of the year but sadly circumstances have changed our programme this year. Hopefully we will get back to normality in the not-too-distant future.”
No new bookings are being accepted for the time being and the priority will be to offer trips to those groups whose trips have been postponed.
Crusader Community Boating was due to officially launch its new trip boat for the 2020 season, Community Spirit, built by Colecraft in 2019.
This widebeam boat is powered by a hybrid propulsion system, backed up by solar panels. When running under electric drive rather than its diesel engine, the quieter environment will enhance the overall passenger experience.
A large cabin area has flexible seating accommodating up to 42 passengers (currently subject to MCA approval), depending on the number of wheelchairs on board. Embarkation is via a short ramp and hydraulic lift or stairs and is fully accessible by wheelchair users and those with walking aids.
On receiving the award, enterprising chairman of trustees Colin Neal mocked up a photo with his wife Paula, also a crew volunteer, with the award in their home and then added a backdrop of the current trip boat Mountbatten Crusader.
A commended award also went to the Friends of the River Nene which continues via its Facebook page to provide updates on the river state.