A hive of activity over at the Sorted Project
SUMMER is often a particularly busy time for canalbased organisations. Things are a little different this year of course, with social distancing and reduced numbers of volunteers and participants.
The team at Sorted Project at Ratho, near Edinburgh, along with their canal boat, Panacea, have been making the most of their time to diversify a little and provide opportunities for safe activities outdoors.
Sorted Project provides meaningful opportunities on board Panacea, a purpose-built (by Crafted Boats) 10x60ft widebeam, for people in recovery from substance use and mental health. The pandemic means that they have had to find new ways to support people.
One example is a partnership approach with a number of different organisations and groups in order to clear, tidy, litter-pick and plant wildflowers in specific locations along the Union Canal that need a little TLC. The first area is Bridge 10 which is close to the City of Edinburgh Bypass and about five miles from Lochrin basin in Edinburgh city centre.
The area is on the offside and seems to have a history of being a loading and offloading wharf. Around 12 bags of litter have been removed so far and lots of overgrowth has been removed. Keep Scotland Beautiful is one of the organisations involved and will be providing mentoring and observing progress though the It’s Your Neighbourhood initiative.
One local resident said how much he has enjoyed watching the improvements taking place, and how much safer he feels now on his walks along that section of the canal. It is hoped that planting wildflowers will help to increase the number of pollinating insects in the area as they are currently in worrying decline. Removing the litter will keep it out of the canal and prevent it from making its way to our oceans.
To complement this work, Sorted Project has won a beehive, thanks to a competition hosted by E Thorne (Beehives) Limited near Lincoln. A long-time aspiration of the project has been to provide beekeeping opportunities and this will now become a reality. It’s hoped that the hive will be sited close to Bridge 10, with the support of Andrew McAllister, an Edinburgh- based beekeeper from The Wee Bee Company.
Panacea will be making her debut as a wedding reception venue at the splendid Polwarth Church, which has its own pontoon on the Union Canal near Edinburgh. The bride-to-be contacted Sorted Project to enquire if this would be possible and as the wedding will be alcohol-free, the team were delighted to negotiate a hire rate for the afternoon.
This is the first step for Sorted Project exploring how Panacea can be used as an asset to the work of the charity and help with sustainability into the future.
The main purpose for Panacea is to provide opportunities for people in recovery to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the canal and to try sailing and crewing, which provides positive experiences and a healthy social network. A new group experienced this at the end of June.
Womanzone supports women in recovery, and they had a wonderful morning on board. They sailed from Ratho to the Almond Aqueduct where they enjoyed packed lunches and photo opportunities, and a birthday celebration too.
Under the guidance of a more experienced crew member, they each took a turn on the tiller on the way back. They have already been in touch to ask if they can do the same thing again in August! It is a joy and a privilege to share the natural diversity and the positive opportunities our canal provides.