From Alan Forrester:

Busy, busy, busy!

My wee Fiesta has been a one-seater for some time now.  It seems to be permanently filled with boxes, boots, waterproofs and hi-vis vests these days.  Last week - Monday was a recce day for the Green Action Project in Falkirk, Tuesday was the induction day for new project Woods & Canals on Prescription based at Auchinstarry Basin, near Kilsyth.

Wednesday was canal walk day with an Edinburgh primary school in the Blue Motion Project, Thursday, another school walk and finally on Friday it was Green Action Kilsyth.  

The participants in Woods & Canals are middle-aged to elderly and all suffer some form of long-term medical condition.  The project aims to encourage them to get out and get active more and to that end, they will undertake a series of 12 walking and forest activity sessions.

Yesterday was their first action day and they all absolutely loved it!  Kitted out in safety boots, waterproofs and hi-vis, they enjoyed a canal walk, learned how to use a Kelly kettle in the woods and composed a joint poem celebrating the outdoors.  They were as high as kites walking back, as excited as the children I take on walks.  

One lady told me she had lived only 2 or 3 miles away for almost 40 years and never knew the basin or woodland was there.  Few if any of this group would venture along the canal or into the woods on their own so it was very satisfying to see them explore and revel in the waterway and woodland environment right on their doorsteps.  I overheard one lady saying, "Just wait till I get back and tell my pals what they've missed"!

Woods & Canals is jointly delivered by The Waterways Trust Scotland and Forestry Commission Scotland.

Hi my name's Sarah and I'm a volunteer for Waterways Action Squad helping with the Volunteer Conference and Celebration Event that's coming up on 15^th June.  As the current project reaches its end, Waterways Action Squad want to receive some form of evaluation from anyone who has been involved, and also to celebrate everything that the project has achieved over the past two years.

It's been great to see the type of opportunities Waterways Action Squad has created for young people and the difference it has made in restoring and protecting the local waterways as well as how it has affected the volunteers. So we decided to create this event so you can come along and try out some of the opportunities we have done, such as willow-weaving and aquatic surveying, as well as being able to tell us how Waterways Action Squad has affected you in the past two years. We'll also be having a celebration later in the day to say thank you to all volunteers, with an awards ceremony for volunteers' contributions to the project, a delicious BBQ and other activities like bell-boating and water-zorbing.

Volunteer Conference and Celebration Event

Wednesday 15^th June

12:30-7:30 p.m.  Awards start at 3 p.m.

National Waterways Museum, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 4FW

If you'd like any more information please email either Simon (simon.colderley@thewaterwaystrust.co.uk) or Emma (emma.wright@thewaterwaystrust.co.uk).

Looking forward to seeing you there!

An entry from Hazel, our volunteer leader:

Wednesday is Leeds-Liverpool day in my work diary, so I set off as usual to meet the volunteers in Maghull, Sefton for a spot of bridge painting. Alas, no sooner had we got to the site and unloaded the paint but the sky greyed over and started to drizzle - not enough to put we hardcore conservationists off mind; just enough to mean the paint had no chance of sticking!

Not to be deterred, we picked up loppers instead to prune back some trees that were pulling apart the wash wall of the canal, then we set off to do a wildlife audit of the stretch, concentrating on breeding water birds and the hedge.  This last task needed doing so that Matt Taylor from British Waterways can get a handle on how many whips to order - he has the noble aim of getting all the boundaries into decent shape in the next few years, and that includes laying the hedges and filling all the gaps -brilliant for wildlife, and something that Waterways Action Squad has already started with in Maghull. I was pleased to see that the section of hedge we laid last year and the new baby trees we planted were in good nick with new leaves and even some flower buds out.

The other highlight was spotting the first little ducklings of spring  - 14 of them! They were so tiny they can't have been more than a day or two old, sooooo cute!

So, now for results: We surveyed just over a mile of canal, identifying 646m worth of hedge gaps to be replanted ; we counted 33 male and 9 female mallards, with 14 ducklings!  (we think the other females must be sitting on eggs - or maybe just hiding out to avoid the boisterous male attention!) 6 moorhens, 1 magpie, 8 coots, 1 blackbird and 2 swans. Add to that some 7-spot ladybirds, ancient willow trees sending up new shoots from the stumps, 3 trolleys in the cut and some pesky japanese knotweed making an appearance, and we had a whole heap of information to help BW monitor and improve the canal habitat.

Emma, one of the volunteers, summed it up when she said 'it's been lovely today -lots of nice things and ducks and stuff'.  That's the waterways in spring all over.

I'm in the office on my own today so enjoying the opportunity to get lots of work done without the temptation to talk constantly and eating lots of biscuits without having to worry about looking like a glutton.  Optimistically I wore sandals today, forgetting that despite sunshine outside, The Island Warehouse at the National Waterways Museum is one of the coldest places inhabited by man.  I think it is the age and size of the building coupled with it's location next to the Dee Estuary and Ship canal.

We had a lovely weekend here at the museum with the lively Easter Boat Gathering.  I love the laidback and buzzy atmosphere and the hundreds of boats that arrive for the long weekend make the site so vibrant and interesting.  I brought my baby and my mum down on Saturday which saw us enjoying hog roast and cupcakes in the sunshine and mum hesitantly tried her first glass of real ale.  Enormous Adventures in Film were here interviewing some of our young volunteers and also speaking to some of the more established volunteers about their opinions on our project and youth volunteering.  Simon was also here with a fancy video camera and some young volunteers to record a series of interviews for a short film documenting 40 years of volunteering on the waterways.  This heritage documentary will first be shown at the Crick Boat Show next month.  Some of our young volunteers, who have been engaged in comedy and drama workshops at the museum performed at the Easter Boat Gathering too and I know that the 'Comedy cruise' was particularly well received. 

Today, when not eating biscuits and doing star jumps to keep warm, I am starting work on a Managing Volunteers handbook which will serve as a guide and a support tool for any staff members wishing to engage young volunteers in their work.  It is something I've been meaning to do for a long time now and never find the time so I best get back to it (!)

I was off for much of last week so whilst complaining that I had nothing super exciting to write about today, my colleague Simon jumped at the chance to share his experiences at the NCBA AGM yesterday:

Yesterday I accompanied two of our young volunteers down to London so that they could contribute to the AGM of the National Community Boat Association.

Luke and Jonny had completed the Community Boat Leadership Programme, run by NCBA, back in February. Along with four other volunteers they learned boat handling, wildlife and environmental knowledge, and the heritage of the waterways over the course of four days. Part of the course required the participants to organise an event, and this was based at the National Waterways Museum with all volunteers dressed in period costume and demonstration boat handling and lock operation to members of the public.

Luke was asked by NCBA to speak to the meeting about his experience on the course and how it has benefitted him as an individual. His presentation went down very well with the assembled guests with some good questions after. Luke was complimented on his presentation by one of the NCBA trustees and he was wished all the best with his job hunting.

Prior to the presentation Jonny and Luke helped along with other volunteers from NCBA to take guests for a short trip down the canal to show off their boat handling skills.

We are looking to continue our relationship with NCBA in the future and are trying to secure funding to allow us to do this.

Simon Colderley

Well, I'm back from maternity leave and pleased to find that Waterways Action Squad have been busy in my absence although disappointing to see they have managed to function spectacularly well without me...  There's been all sorts of changes and exciting projects that I've missed out on such as a Horsedrawn boating inspired willow weaving in the museum grounds, music projects, residentials, dry-stone walling, invertebrates investigation and miles of new or improved hedges along the towpaths of the North west.  I'm making up for lost time though and have organised some more art and installation projects in Crewe and Ellesmere Port.  I'm also helping Simon to organise our Volunteer Conference and Celebration event on 8th June (date for your diaries please).  Today I have had a meeting with Enormous Adventures in film about a DVD to promote and showcase our project.  They can engage 3 young volunteers to help with all aspects of the film making which is exciting news so I'll be starting to recruit volunteers for that today. 

From Kim, Trust Development Manager:

Today I'm working on the Stroud Canal restoration project. This is a project with huge aspirations, aiming to link the Thames with the River Severn through the restoration of the Stroudwater and Thames & Severn Canals.

The Cotswold Canals Trust has kept the project alive over the last 30 years; without their efforts there would be no canal left to restore. This is typical of the work that The Waterways Trust does, working in partnership with the community and other groups to deliver waterside projects that meet the needs and aspirations of the neighbourhood.

I'm working on an application for a flagship volunteering project on the Cotswold Canals at the moment, the whole project owes so much to the efforts of the community and volunteers that it's not very hard to develop a convincing case.  It's an exciting opportunity as this will provide us with a chance to reach out into the community and get people who wouldn't normally volunteer involved.  The final project will deliver a resource which the community will own and be responsible for, could this be Big Society in action?

I'm off to Leicester tomorrow to revisit the strategy for the waterside with the River Soar Partnership.   I'm looking forward to it and to the journey up there - plenty of quiet time on the train to get more of my application done!

Development Manager, Kim Chester:

Today is Monday and what better way to start the week than with a colleague's birthday marked by cake; I'm meant to be swimming tonight but I can feel my will power ebbing away with each bit of icing - does fruit cancel out cake I wonder?

I've spent most of today working my way through my email box.  We're involved in such a diverse range of projects that it can be complicated trying to stay on top of all of them at once.  For example the advert for the Volunteer Co-ordinator on the Heartlands Canal has now gone live but the project manager isn't in post until April 4th so I'm fielding all the calls in her absence.

It's such an exciting project and new ground for us.  The canal in this area is very typical of an industrial heartland - surrounded by factories which cut the community off from the waterway.   Over time as freight on the canal dwindled so many of the factories closed, some have new uses but very few include the canal so they have all turned their backs on the canal.  It makes walking along the canal a very closed off isolated experience that isn't at all welcoming.  In addition the local residential community are primarily first and second generation refugees and immigrants; they have no connection with the industrial heritage of the canal.

This project sets out to work with the local businesses, the factory owners and the employees, to help them understand what the canal can do for them.  The impact of a wildlife rich canal that is clean and attractive cannot be undervalued as it attracts visitors and greater use but we need their help if we are to achieve this vision.  In addition we're working through community events and with schools to try to challenge the local perception that the canal is a dark and dangerous place to be.

Check out the job details if you're interested in applying.

From Kim Chester:

It's been quite a frustrating day already with lots of urgent emails pinging into my mail box.  I had planned to spend today writing an application for Gloucester Waterways Museum but it doesn't look likely to happen.  I have, however, met my new colleague Alex Ball.

Alex will be leading fundraising on the Montgomery Canal project, this is a wonderful project with huge scope for some ambitious environmental projects.  It looks like one of her main funders will be the EU; it's an area I've looked at a few times but it requires a lot of time and some very careful juggling of project priorities and partnership working, I am not envious of the task ahead of her but welcome on board Alex!

Yesterday I spent the day on a site visit round the Olympics - sadly not into the heart of the site though.  I'm looking at developing a project for the waterways around the Lower Leaside areas that will bind together the heritage that has been dug up during the Olympics preparation, with heritage that is still standing.  It's really good to be involved in a project which doesn't have a deadline of the start of the Olympics.  All the same the challenge of designing, fundraising and delivering a project in time for the end of the Olympics is still pretty challenging.

After that we had a Partnership meeting at Three Mills in Bromley by Bow for an update on the restoration of the House Mill and then a long train ride home.  Roll on Friday!

Today's thoughts from Kim:

What a beautiful start to the day!  I had a little lie in as I was home late last night and then I got to run through the woods near my home before hoping on the train and coming into work.  Spring is bursting through and the sap is most definitely rising.

Now its back to the office and it's a welcome change that sees me based out of the office for a whole day; a meeting in London was cancelled so I have the whole day to work on a tender for a potential project.  It sounds really interesting but it's a very complex project on a tight deadline so we need to make sure that we can deliver what we promise and at the right price both for us and for the client.

A day at the office also means I can catch up with my post and also have a proper lunch rather than a sarnie grabbed on the go.  I'm meeting up with my sister today and we'll be trying out one of the new restaurants around Gloucester Docks.  It's a beautiful place to be and the new designer shopping arcade is a real boon to shopping and getting those forgotten gifts!

Yesterday I was in Manchester at an Access to Nature evaluation training day.  It was a great opportunity to take a good hard look at our Birmingham project and really identify what it was that we were doing and how we were going to measure that.  It's very tempting when dealing with a blank sheet of paper to design complex and sophisticated evaluation tools but often the simplest methods are the best.  We spent a lot of time looking at the beneficiaries and it was amazing to realize the true impact of the project and just how many people we had the potential to reach.  So if you go down to the Heartlands Ring in Birmingham in the next month or so be prepared to be stopped and asked or counted or involved in some way shape or form!

Find out more about how we working with our partners to transofrm Birmingham Heartlands Canal Ring into a resource for the whole community.