Blackburn's third canal festival is to be held on July 18 - 19 at Eanam Wharf and promises to be bigger and better than ever.
The family fun weekend will celebrate the history of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the important role that Eanam Wharf played in the development of Blackburn.
A host of activities are already planned but now the Trust and the festival organisers are looking to involve more young people and want to set up a steering group of Young Waterways Ambassadors.
Get involved
The Young Waterways Ambassadors will be aged between 16-25 years and will play a role in asking what water related activities young people in the area want to see at the festival to enable young people of all ages, physical abilities and ethnic background to get involved.
We're putting up £2,500 to support the initiative to encourage more young people to get involved in enjoying and promoting the canal system.
Canal & River Trust waterways manager Chantelle Seaborn, said: “Blackburn Canal Fest 2015 promises to be a great weekend, but we want more young people to get involved and help organise events for their age group.
“We hope to set up a steering group of young Waterways Ambassadors who will then nominate a representative to sit on the Canal Fest 2015 steering group.
“It is envisaged that the young people will want to go on fact finding expeditions to look at, and take part in, water related activities, canal and other waterway festivals and carry out desk top research on the wide range of activities that might be of interest.
“We are particularly interested in hearing from young people who are interested in sports, water sports, canals, waterways or the environment. Applicants will be motivated and be passionate about improving opportunities for young people in the area
“Applicants are invited from anyone who might be interested, particularly those who might not traditionally be engaged with the waterways.
“We hope that young people taking part will get great experience to add to their cv and to talk about at interviews. They will certainly get real world experience of planning and delivering a public event working alongside a professional team of staff and volunteers within a national charity.”
If you are interested in applying, send a one page to Matt Taylor [email protected] by end May 2015, this should include a paragraph on why you want to join the group. Informal meetings will be arranged before young people are invited to join the steering group. Steering group members will be chosen based on their interests and skills and to try to reflect the diversity of the local community.
