£1m of funding is being pledged to the Trust thanks to players of the People's Postcode Lottery and Google is encouraging people to discover and enjoy the wildlife along their local waterway by literally putting towpaths on the map – Google Maps.
Tony Hales, chairman of the Canal & River Trust, commented: “We are delighted that these exciting partners have come on board as we launch. This is a huge vote of confidence in the Canal & River Trust and recognition of the important role it will play as the guardian of one of the nation's environmental treasures. We're looking forward to announcing some of the exciting initiatives we are planning together later in the year.”
Vital lifelines accross England and Wales
Charity lottery, the People's Postcode Lottery, hopes its players will support £1m worth of essential conservation work across the Canal & River Trust's network over the next decade through funds awarded by Postcode Green Trust. People's Postcode Lottery makes up part of the third largest private funder of good causes in the world.
Clara Govier, head of charities, says: “Players of People's Postcode Lottery are proud to be backing this exciting development that will see the future management of our important local waterways firmly placed in the hands of Canal & River Trust. These vital lifelines across England and Wales must be protected and managed to ensure they remain an important asset to the communities in which our players live.”
Google and the Canal & River Trust are partnering to put the UK's towpaths on Google Maps for the first time. With 2,000 miles of easily accessible towpath, this includes the considerable task of highlighting access points, bridges, locks and tunnels. Anyone will be able to use Google Maps to plan journeys that include canal and river towpaths as well as roads, helping to improve access to traffic-free routes through our towns and cities for walkers and cyclists.
Ed Parsons, geospatial technologist at Google UK, explains: "Canal towpaths offer green routes through our towns and cities and by working with the Canal & River Trust we're adding towpaths to Google Maps and encouraging people to discover their local waterway."
Further information of the partnerships will be announced over the coming months.
