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The charity making life better by water

Support page for partner organisations

Over 400 independent volunteer organisations around the country are active on our waterways. Ranging from a local residents' organisation through to large international employers, the spectrum is very broad. This page provides resources, guidance and support for any partner organisation volunteering on Canal & River Trust land, in partnership with us.

Planting at the Good Gym adoption group

Coronavirus secure in 2020

We want to celebrate our partnerships ensuring that all the skills and talents of your group are valued, working together to create safe and engaging volunteer opportunities on waterways.

These pages will evolve and develop with time, if you can think of something you would find helpful that isn't currently available please email [email protected]

How we work partners

Our Partner Groups' Handbook gives a comprehensive overview of working in partnership with the Trust.

The Toolbox Talk on managing safety around coronavirus for partner organisations' leaders can seen here.

Registering

We ask all groups to register with us so that we have your correct contact details, please tells us if these change. When you registered with us you should have received a copy of this booklet 'Working in Partnership with Canal & River Trust' (published June 2018).

Adoption agreements

Over 200 partners from across the country have now adopted a section of their local canal or river. We know that many people want to make a positive difference to their local community and a waterway adoption offers the chance to do that.

If your organisation is volunteering regularly on the same section of canal or river an adoption could be ideal for you. It's not legally binding and there is no obligation to deliver certain things, like all partnership volunteering it's about working together to plan.

Find out more about the types of organisations who have adoption agreements and where is already adopted

If your group might be interested in adopting please talk to your local volunteering development coordinator.

Managing activity on Canal & River Trust land

If you are new to volunteering in partnership with the Trust you should have been asked to complete a Registration form. This will mean we can keep in contact about your volunteering and you will get the latest updates etc.

We aim to manage the safety pragmatically and jointly. Planning and managing works together is vital, this means agreeing work prior to starting and considering all aspects of the project.

Our safety management system is designed to be flexible considering your groups skills and ability alongside the activity you will be undertaking.

Step 1. Getting to know you

This is about understanding your organisation in relation to the activity you are planning to undertake. The sheet looks long but it's for organisations that might do a great variety of tasks. You don't need advanced chainsaw certificates if you are planning to run a community litter pick.

Step 2. Planning activity - traffic light sheet

Once we have identified the types of activity your organisation will be doing we use a traffic light sheet to work out what you can do Now, Green. With more planning training or support -Amber or for those tasks we can't deliver at the moment Red.

Step 3 Management plan

This is where together we work out who does what to make the agreed activities happen. This like welfare, tools, supervision etc..

Step 4 Keep talking

Plan regular contact, this should be an opportunity to review how things are going, reporting any issues or problems.

Support and advice

Constitution, structure and third sector advice

There is lots of support available about setting up your organisation. A good start is the National Council for Voluntary Organisations that produce online training, fact sheets and are available to advice in person

Visit www.knowhownonprofit.org

GDPR

With the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) in 2018, it's important that you have a policy on how you'll manage personal data of your volunteers as well as supporters, donors etc.. To understand your responsibilities around this more fully, the Information Commissioners Office holds a wealth of information and this short film gives 10 top tips for managing personal data to comply with the regulations.

Fundraising and working with corporates

The Canal & River Trust actively fundraises on Canal & River Trust land as such we carefully control any other fundraising that can happen. Please contact your local contact if you are planning any fundraising activity on Trust land.

The Trust works with corporate partners, both in a fundraising capacity and as volunteers. As such we ask that you discuss any company or businesses your organisation may work with on Trust land prior to starting.

Insurance

When work is planned and delivered with the Trust partner organisations are covered by Canal & River Trust Public Liability Insurance.

However, we suggest taking out separate insurance for your organisation. This is will mean that you are covered in the event of an incident off Canal & River Trust land or outside the agreed activities.

Below are some suggested suppliers of insurance for volunteer organisations, please note it's your responsibility to ensure the cover is sufficient for the activity of the organisation:

The media - how to engage them

Our communications team have produced this handy hints page for successfully engaging the press to celebrate and promote your volunteers. Alongside this guidance the team will aim to help with press releases wherever possible.

It's imperative that any press releases are sent out jointly and with agreement from both the organisation's lead contact and our own communications team.

Read the press guide

Provide a case study for our website

The adoptions page on our website has links from a map to case studies, it's a great way of promoting your activity. If your organisation hasn't done a case study simply contact [email protected] about how to do this.

Recruiting new volunteers

We are happy to put details of your activities onto our web pages, so long as they are opportunities that we're working on together (we won't advertise for the chairman of your group for example).

Speak to your key contact at the Trust and give them the details using this guide.

Safety Management

It's essential that your organisation has your own safety processes appropriate to the activities that you're carrying out with the Trust and agree with us how safety is being managed. This is done through the 4 step management process mentioned above. Below are some resources which may be of use for you and your volunteers in raising awareness of safety around the waterways:

Safeguarding

Safeguarding policies help ensure that you are protecting young people, adults at risk and your own teams. The Trust's Safeguarding Standard sets out our approach. Here's a template safeguarding policy around which you can build your own if you don't have one.

When working in partnership with you, safeguarding is the responsibility of the partner organisation. This means that any new group must agree to:

  • registering their volunteers, asking for the necessary criminal convictions disclosures
  • have a clear policy on how they will manage disclosures
  • manage site sign in and emergency contacts.
  • have a system in place to manage any volunteering that will come into contact with young people and the necessary Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks where necessary

Help, advice and templates for all of these areas can be supplied by The Trust or a local volunteer centre.

Last Edited: 28 February 2024

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