Regional Round-up South - November 2026

Angling for victory in Shropshire

The Shropshire Union Canal was bursting with excitement this September as hundreds of young anglers took to the towpath, rods at the ready, hoping to land the catch of the day.

They were taking part in this year's National Celebration of Young People & Fishing, the largest event on our Let’s Fish! calendar. No other event in the country attracts so many young anglers, which is great testament to the huge strides your support for Let’s Fish! has made in recent years. And for many of the young anglers, it was the culmination of weeks and months spent honing their angling skills on our canals.

There was plenty of friendly competition, but the weekend was about much more than landing the biggest catch. Young anglers had the chance to test their skills, spend time outdoors and meet other children and young people who share their love of fishing. In all, 460 participants, aged 6 to 20, took part, each receiving a medal, certificate, fishing book and a goodie bag.

“It’s all about building confidence, creating lifelong memories and making new friends,” says John Ellis, our national fisheries and angling manager. “Events like this prove how powerful initiatives such as Let’s Fish! can be in connecting young people with the outdoors and with each other.”

Thanks to your support, more young people than ever are discovering the joys of fishing, helping ensure the future of angling remains in safe hands.

Keeping London's children safe by water

In September, your gifts helped treat toddlers to a new interactive show at the Angel Canal Festival in Islington, on Regent’s Canal. The two main characters, Squirrel and Mouse, had a simple water safety message for their young audience: “Hold hands and take two steps back.”

The pair are the stars of a new stage adaptation of Quack Quack Take Two Steps Back, our water safety story created especially for toddlers and pre-school children. When our two furry friends lose their ball in the canal, they learn an important lesson about staying away from the water’s edge – one that children can easily remember and repeat.

The story was created to help parents and carers talk to young children about the dangers around canals in a fun, rather than frightening, way. It’s already reaching little ones across our network, with around 5,000 nurseries receiving a free printed copy, thanks to Postcode Lottery players.

But thanks to your support, Angel Canal Festival and Chickenshed Theatre have brought Squirrel and Mouse to life on stage, giving children the chance to engage with water safety through storytelling, theatre, and familiar characters. Created with author and illustrator Matt Buckingham, Quack Quack Take Two Steps Back is part of our wider initiative to help young children enjoy our canals safely and responsibly, protecting our smallest, most vulnerable (and cutest) visitors.

Doubling down on dredging in Gloucester

After months of exceptionally dry weather, large stretches of exposed silt appeared across Gloucester Docks this summer. Combined with low river flows and high tides, the build-up left many boaters struggling to move freely around the historic docks. That’s why we’ve begun a major dredging programme this October.

We’ve doubled our investment to bring this year's Gloucester Docks dredging budget to £4 million. Work is now well underway to clear the accumulated silt and restore the depths needed to keep boats moving through the Docks.

But removing the silt is only part of the solution. Alongside the dredging work, we’re also exploring ways to reduce the amount of sediment entering the Docks in the first place, so we can avoid the same thing happening again in the coming years.

The work comes as Gloucester Docks celebrates its bicentennial year. Two centuries after these famous old Docks transformed Gloucester's fortunes, your support is helping secure their future, ensuring this remarkable piece of our canal heritage remains safe, accessible and enjoyable for generations to come.