Celebrating the work of the people

The Canal & River Trust have celebrated some of the fantastic work carried out by staff and volunteers over the past year with the presentation of their annual Waterways Alive Awards at the Anderton Boat Lift.

The awards are open to staff and volunteers and the winners showcase the sheer variety of the work that the Trust carry out.

All the finalists were recognised for their particular achievements, and chief executive Richard Parry announced the winners in the four main categories alongside an award for Apprentice of the Year.

• The award for Best Operations or Works went to the £2.5m Marple Makeover which saw major repairs to an entire heritage lock flight and aqueduct
• A staff-led project which has helped to improve efficiency and employee engagement saw the replacement of out-dated mobile technology to over 600 bank staff pick up the award for Enterprise or Innovation
• The award for Community Activity went to Spirit of Stonebridge which has turned a heavily vandalised area on the River Lee with the highest repair bills of any operational property on our network into a busy community hub, enjoyed by local people
• For the first time, there was a category for our Values Team of the Year for those teams that consistently employ the organisation’s values. This went to the South East Boat Licence Support team, who exemplify how important it is to be true to the Trust’s values when facing some of the more challenging issues that the charity has to deal with when supporting boaters
• We also recognised Apprentice of the Year, Paula Baron, a Wigan masonry apprentice who has worked on several heritage landmarks and big projects across the country, and runner-up M&E apprentice Jeff Croker who is based in Gloucester.

Canal & River Trust chief executive, Richard Parry, says: “This year we had more entries than ever before, and yet the quality of the work remained higher than ever. This is testament not only to the great work we do but also the passion and commitment of all those who are doing so much to make life better by water.

“All of our finalists have made a very positive difference to our waterways and the people who use them, and the impact they can have. The winning projects and teams were all exceptional and reflected the wide variety of activities the Trust carries out.

“I would like to thank everyone who entered the awards and congratulate all the finalists for their achievements. Across this year’s entries I have seen more great examples of our creativity and innovation, of teamwork and partnership and reaching out to find new opportunities whilst consistently delivering excellence in our core work.”