Innovation, care and excellence were celebrated at the Canal & River Trust’s annual internal awards for colleagues and volunteers, held on 4 October at Anderton Boat Lift. With six categories, the awards celebrate the work the charity does to keep its canals navigable and available for boaters and local communities.
There were finalists in each of the categories, which included the best Small Project and best Large Project, awards for Customer Service, Community Engagement, and one celebrating Innovation. Finally, each year a special award is given for a person or team going above and beyond in showcasing the Trust values with the Clive Porter Values Award.
The winning projects included a moorings initiative on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, an innovative plasma cutting machine that is able to further drive efficiency at the charity’s lock gate workshops, the development of a boater support network in Northamptonshire, the work of mooring rangers in London, a 200-mile externally-funded habitat improvement project in the West Midlands, and a project where the Trust was able to facilitate work with a local school to support vulnerable students in Leicester.
Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, said: “Our Awards showcase the huge range of work that goes on every day to keep our canals open and alive. We all see the challenges our ageing 250-year-old canal network is facing, and our colleagues and volunteers are on the front line, safeguarding navigation and the benefits that brings, helping meet the needs of our boating customers, and finding ways to save money by being more efficient and embracing new technologies. I’m confident that, with this passion, creativity and care, we are well placed in the fight for the future of our amazing waterways.
“Congratulations to all colleagues and volunteers who won an award and to those who were commended or shortlisted, and thank you to everyone who shared their achievements over the year.”
A project creating much-needed permanent moorings on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Rodley Bridge and Skipton received the Small Project Award. The volunteer team used a cost-effective technique using over-pile rings rather than setting mooring rings into concrete. This established eight new berths at Dowley Gap, with a further six to come at Bradley.
The Large Project Award went to the Unlocking Biodiversity project, funded in partnership with Severn Trent, a two-year project to improve over 200 miles of priority habitat across the West Midlands. The works range from water vole habitat installations and reedbed creation to wildflower seeding and hedgerow restoration. With the help and support of the charity’s fantastic volunteers, almost 100 miles of habitat enhancements were delivered in the first year.
The Customer Service Award went to the Mooring Ranger Team in London which works tirelessly to support boaters. In addition to managing moorings, the team helps plan and assist with big events such as Cavalcade and responds to challenging issues, such as engaging with people who are rough sleeping to support in getting them re-homed and working with police and local authorities to respond to reports of anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
A partnership with Leicester-based Orchard Mead Academy to use the canal for a programme of activities to support some of their most vulnerable students at risk of school exclusion received the Community Award. 24 girls engaged with the Trust and canal through a programme of canoeing and bushcraft sessions which, according to the school’s safeguarding team, had more impact on the students than any other intervention. Engaging young people in this way will enable the Trust to access wider external funding grants to unlock the potential of the canal network to support community wellbeing.
In the Trust’s lock gate workshops, which handmake around 130 lock gates every year, the introduction of a new Plasma Cutting Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machine secured the Innovation Award. While plasma cutting of sheet metal with handheld machines was already in use, the CNC capability gives greater accuracy and provides the ability to cut multiple shapes, designs and components in a fraction of the time.
And the Clive Porter Values Award, in memory of the Trust’s towpath ranger killed on the Grand Union Canal in 2021, celebrated licence support officer George Dickinson, described as “the beating heart of the waterways that run through the south of the East Midlands”. Seeing a need within the boating community, he worked with the outreach team from West Northamptonshire Council, often in his own time, to facilitate the launch of a boating community support network.
Picture: The awards were held at the Anderton Boat Lift.
Image: Sue Burton Photography / Shutterstock.com
