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The charity making life better by water

Thank you everyone

So many people have helped to create the new Canal & River Trust, and now it’s real.

Today (2 July 2012) a new charity, the Canal & River Trust has been born. In an increasingly fast-paced and hectic world, our wonderful canals and rivers in England and Wales remind us of a time gone by and give us a unique place to reconnect with people, nature and history and we're here to protect them.

The Canal & River Trust hopes to inspire and motivate everyone who cares about our canals and rivers to get involved with their future. It's an idea that's been many years in the making and involved countless dedicated people, all of whom had a vision that canals and rivers will be looked after so that future generations can enjoy them.

During the transition from British Waterways to the new Canal & River Trust we've been overwhelmed by peoples' kindness and willingness to give us their time and expertise. Whether as volunteer lock keepers, members of specialist advisory committees or as graphic designers you've blown us away with your enthusiasm. Thank you!

Find out more about us

This new website explains what we are about – bringing people, nature and history together. Whether you want to enjoy the wildlife on the towpath, soak up the history or go boating you'll be able to find plenty of inspiration on our new site. Use the ‘in your area' search box on our homepage to explore your local canals and rivers. If you're not sure what you fancy why not browse through our ‘see and do' section? You'll find plenty of family friendly ways to enjoy our waterway network. And if you like what you see, please get involved and join us.

We'll be celebrating publicly with all our local partners right across England and Wales on 12 July. In the meantime, now we've been officially created, we're just putting the finishing touches to things like this website. We are very excited about the new future for waterways cared for by the Canal & River Trust. We hope you are too!

Last Edited: 02 July 2012

photo of a location on the canals
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