Fundraiser to celebrate 200 years of Chichester Canal’s unique heritage and habitat

• We are used to hearing you read the news on stations including BBC Radio 2, but you’re also involved in Chichester Canal’s fundraising project. Will you tell us more?

I’m patron for the fundraising campaign that is trying to raise £200,000 for the 200th anniversary of the Chichester Canal in 2022. During lockdown the towpath has been really busy and the banks are kind of collapsing. Making the banks good again is an expensive and specialist business, but without banks you don’t have a towpath.

• Charities have been adversely impacted by the pandemic. How has it been for the canal?

We are a small volunteer led charity. We haven’t been able to run a lot of our trips and fundraising activities. We would have liked to have had a launch for this campaign, but a pandemic isn’t a very good time to do that. We hope to be able to actively fundraise at some point. Recently a lot of people have enjoyed the canal; walking along it, canoeing or paddle boarding on it and sitting beside it, which has been lovely to see. If you have appreciated it, maybe you could make a donation to help ensure its future?

• What else is on offer at the canal?

The canal offers unique heritage and habitat, as well as a café, boat trips and paddle board and canoe hire. In 2019 there were 203 day paddle board or canoe licences sold. This year there has been a 50 per cent increase in participation. Stand-up paddle boarding is really good for you; it’s great for your core. Being out in the water on a board is also a good way of isolating! The canal is a great resource for Chichester. Right in the city centre you have this beautiful waterside walk and place to sit, but as soon as you walk under the bypass, which you almost don’t notice, you are out into the country. Canals are like green fingers into the countryside.

• When did you get the bug for travelling by canal boat?

We bought our own boat nine years ago. We try to spend between 70-90 nights a year on board. We got as far as Manchester this year and then lockdown happened. I love the history. There’s something special about being moored out in the middle of nowhere, but there’s also something special about urban canals; places that are linked by water. Birmingham has more miles of canals then Venice does and you can see the history of the Industrial Revolution all around you. Then there’s the wildlife. I have dozens of blurred photographs of kingfishers!

• What advice do you have for those considering a canal boat holiday?

Just give it a go. It’s easier than driving a car. But remember that you’re on an enforced slow down. You might have just whizzed up the motorway to your hire base, but from there on you’ll be going at 4mph. Embrace it.

• For more information visit www.chichestercanal.org.uk or donate at www.justgiving.com/campaign/chichestercanal

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