In June we gave over £5,000 to the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) to clean up the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal.
On 24 July 2021, braving heavy rain and armed with grabbers and bin bags, 65 volunteers from the Friends of the Grand Union Canal, in partnership with the Inland Waterways Association, descended on a 12 mile stretch of the Paddington Arm canal, donating 240 hours of their time to remove nine literal boat-loads of rubbish from the towpath, verges and depths of the canal. They reportedly dredged up an exercise bike, tyres, old chairs, hedge clippers and a rusty bike frame.
The IWA is a membership charity which protects and restores the UK’s canals and rivers. The Friends of the Grand Union Canal is a volunteer group of canal guardians which emerged during lockdown and has quickly gathered 4,000 members. We were pleased to be able to support their work on the canal.