All you need to know about IWA’s new chairman, Paul Rodgers, and his aspirations for the charity…
Rodger that He's a spring chicken! Paul jokes that he’s probably IWA’s “first nonretired, non-pensioned national chair”. But while youth is on his side, free time isn’t quite so much. “I’ve basically got two other jobs, so there will inevitably be challenges. However, as the saying goes, if you want something done, ask a busy person! Thankfully, I’ve also got fantastic support in my new role – a good set of Trustees, members and volunteers and, of course, our staff team. And I’ve appointed three deputies [previously the chairman only had two], who are already proving invaluable.” Younger than his predecessors – but hardpressed for time with two other jobs.
He's had a 'hire' education Paul and his wife, Amanda, started hiring boats in 2012 – and haven’t looked back since. Their first trip was inspired by a team-building exercise for their staff. “We wanted something away from London and that would reinforce the importance of good communication. Hiring a narrowboat came to mind. Obviously, we had to try it ourselves first (we didn’t want to show ourselves up in front of the team!) so we took out a day-boat in Guildford. It was lucky we had this trial run, in fact, as we ended up getting swept towards the edge of a weir and completely stuck! It was bad enough that there were witnesses in the nearby beer garden, but at least we were spared our employees seeing us making a hash of it. We had such a fun time and the realisation that there was still so much to learn spurred us to book another ‘proper’ holiday – a long weekend on the Llangollen. Since then we’ve tried to hire at least once a year.” Cruising the Llangollen Canal.
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Spring 2020 23/01/2020 12:25
