UCL East hosts an Accessible Waterways Day

Accessible Waterways Day London 2024 Following the success of our first ‘Accessible Waterways Day’ in Birmingham last year, we were pleased to host the 2024 follow-up at UCL East on 5 October. University College London’s new campus in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is next to the River Lea and home to many boaters. The area is heavily used by …

Meeting with the Environment Agency at Denver

Tracey Clarke, founder Director of the Accessible Waterways Association (AWA), discussing accessibility of moorings with a group of personnel from the Environment Agency (EA). Her Guide Dog Loki is at her feet.

AWA meets EA Thursday 8 August 2024 Denver Complex, Norfolk What a refreshing experience! We (Tim and Tracey) were invited along to the impressive Denver Complex on the River Great Ouse Relief Channel, near Downham Market in Norfolk. This was to meet with several key personnel from the Environment Agency, who are invested in developing the accessibility of EA moorings …

AWA Meet with Policy Connect about Health

Policy Connect logo

AWA Meet with Policy Connect about Health APPG On 29 May 2024, the Accessible Waterways Association met with representatives of Policy Connect, a cross-party think tank which provides the secretariat for All-Party Parliamentary Group on Health (APHG), supporting the group’s activities. All-Party Parliamentary groups are informal cross-party groups that bring together members of both Houses of Parliament who have shared …

Campaign for canal access for people with disabilities

Artist impression of steps West Park Bridge canal access.

AWA urge Erewash Borough Council to reconsider canal access for people with disabilities. People with disabilities, additional needs, and families with pushchairs, are joining forces to campaign for greater consideration in the plans for the new bridge across the Erewash Canal in Long Eaton. Whilst most of the design is fully accessible, the new link to the canal is a …

Bollards!

Accessible Mooring Bollards At the Towards Accessible Waterways Day in December, Dick Vincent of Canal and River Trust introduced a prototype of the new accessible mooring bollards. This has been created in response to discussions on the Disabled Boaters’ Forum over many months. Whilst it is acknowledged that there is no “one size fits all”, this bollard addresses most of …

Towards Accessible Waterways Day 2023

Report of the Towards Accessible Waterways Day 2023 Saturday 2 December 2023 can be hailed as a great success for the Accessible Waterways Association (AWA). Despite the weather, and some train problems, around 50 people gathered at the wonderful Trefoil House venue in central Birmingham for the Towards Accessible Waterways Day. This was hosted jointly by AWA and the Canal …

Towpath Site Visits

AWA Towpath Site visits – Loughborough and the Erewash Canal. On Wednesday 25 October, we had a very long day. It started at 6am, included travel by train and car, as well as walking almost 20,000 steps (9 miles), and ended, back home at around 8pm.