Community volunteering is about making a real difference where you live, changing lives and having fun too. Join the 300 organisations and groups who partner with us every year.
Working together we can achieve more in the local community and for our waterways. The impact can be felt by our group members as well as by local visitors to the waterways, those on the water and on towpaths and local businesses.
What could you be doing?
Many of our existing community groups join us in practical conservation and development of the waterways. This could be planting, clearing, constructing or painting. But we’re open to new ideas which could include raising the profile of the waterways, fundraising or campaigning alongside us.
Feel inspired
Meet some of our current adoption groups.
Working together
No matter the size of your group or organisation, and no matter what time you're able to give - we want to work with you to jointly run volunteering sessions in a way that suits everybody.
If you're able to work with us regularly, we're keen to bring you longer term projects or regular maintenance. We'll work together to plan projects, looking at what we’re both able to bring to the partnership.
Who do we work with?
We’ve a wide range of groups from youth organisations to faith groups and local residents associations. We welcome those with special interests as well as those just wanting to impact positively on their local communities. See our community groups map below to get a better idea of who we work with.
Adopting the towpath
We encourage groups and organisations who want to adopt a stretch of waterway. This means agreeing to care for a section of canal or river on a more sustained basis, looking after it for your whole community to enjoy.
We'll help you figure out the perfect way to work with us and give you the support you need along the way. We welcome all sorts of small and large organisations but ask that you’re able to manage your own volunteers and work with us to ensure that the right safety processes and resourcing is in place.
Our three adoption types:
- Community adoption groups are asked to adopt one mile or more for a year and to volunteer at least once a month. This type of adoption best suits groups with more experience that are able to lead and manage their own activities.
- Helping hands adoption. Great for groups that fancy adopting a smaller area and might need a bit of help getting going. We ask these groups to volunteer about once a month for a year.
- Pocket adoption. This is the mini adoption option, volunteering in the same area for five days in one go, or over a few months. This adoption can be in a much smaller area and really suits people keen to improve an area close to home.
Get in touch
You can contact us by emailing [email protected] with the details of your group, how many members you have, where you are, what you are aiming to achieve and when you aim to get involved.
Last Edited: 27 March 2025
