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The charity making life better by water

Appeal for public to unlock vital waterway role

The Trust, is inviting local people to give lock keeping a go at a taster session planned on Monday 24th October.

Volunteer lock keeper smiles as he opens the lock gate to let a narrowboat out

The drop-in session, which runs between 10am – 3pm, is being held at Newark Town Lock and budding volunteer lock keepers are encouraged to come along, learn more about the role and meet the current team of volunteers.

Lock keepers have been part of life on the river for hundreds of years and volunteer lock keepers play a crucial role in keeping the age-old tradition alive.

The role of the modern day volunteer lock keeper is to help look after the waterways, including assisting boaters through locks, providing a friendly welcome to visitors and helping the Trust maintain the canal network.

The friendly face of the Trust

Wayne Ball, volunteer development coordinator for the Trust, said; "Volunteer lock keepers provide a fantastic service and they really are the friendly face of the Trust. The role involves talking to boaters, helping them through locks, telling them about the local area and the history of the canal.

"The idea of the drop-in session is that people can just come along for as long or as little as they like and see if it's something they might be interested in getting involved in. They can have a chat with some of our existing volunteers and get a feel for the role. If it's something they do want to help with then we'll arrange for them to have proper training over the winter and they'll be ready to go when the main boating season starts at Easter.

"We're looking for friendly, enthusiastic people who like being out in the great outdoors and would encourage anyone interested to come along on the 24 to find out more."

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a volunteer lock keeper and can't make the drop-in session then please email [email protected]

Newark Town Lock is a short walk from Newark Castle and the nearest car parking is by Riverside Park.

Last Edited: 19 October 2016

photo of a location on the canals
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