chairman ’ s comment

Chairman’s Comment

This time of year traditionally heralds a lot of emails, meetings, phone calls, etc. as what used to be called the ‘WRG brass’ try and make sure that all our plans for the summer actually stand a chance of coming to pass. Now this has pretty much always been the case ever since WRG came into being. In fact, reading those old copies of Navvies, the fundamental purpose of WRG was ‘a coordinating body’ to ensure that volunteers could give their time in the genuine belief that it wouldn’t be wasted.

Yes all you readers out there have what can only be described as ‘hope’ for our waterways network and ‘faith’ that together we can make a difference BUT that faith is best fed by a belief that if you bring the shovel, someone else will sort the wheelbarrow, pump, fuel, tea, etc. to make sure you are not literally treading water for your entire weekend!

As I’m writing this, it’s early June and I have to say, dear reader, that the annual flurry of emails, meetings, phone calls, etc. seems to be rather heavier than usual this year. I suppose I could give you the benefit of my wisdom as to why this is: a long break because of Covid, more challenging projects, excessive solar flare activity causing increased risk of flooding, subversive activity from navigation authorities, something ‘extra’ they are putting in the beer these days...

But that’s all it would be – my wisdom, and there are plenty of readers holding this copy of Navvies right now who have learned the hard way that following MKP wisdom is a path to be trod cautiously (and wearing well ies).

But as reassurance for both me and (hopefully) you I suggest this edition of Navvies replenishes that ‘hope’ and ‘belief’ I mentioned earlier…

On page 15 you can read all about our Leader Training Day (LTD) that Dave ‘Evvo’ Evans ran for us. It was a great event and a real opportunity for exchange of knowledge, skills and experience. And just to be clear, this is a two way exchange: yes there are messages from the WRG Board to our leaders telling them what we want them to do, but it’s also vital that suggestions and messages go the other way. It’s these suggestions that inform the WRG Board and help us make the right decisions.

Unfortunately, because it has just missed the press date, you won’t be able to read the report on the Training Weekend (TW) held on 27-28 May on the Lichfield Canal. This too was a pleasure to partake in as lots of people gained vital training to a suitable, consistent standard in all sorts of areas. The success of both of these vital training events is down to the interaction of three things:

· A real desire amongst those attending to learn new things – it’s never, ever a ‘boxticking exercise’,

· A good system to follow – for example the Instructor Guidance Notes (IGNs) that everybody works from at the TW have been carefully crafted by our experts to make sure that the training is appropriate to waterway restoration.

· Brilliant planning by someone – be that Evvo for the LTD or Ali ‘Womble’ Bottomley for the TW.

It’s only appropriate for me to thank all those included in both events, both those receiving the training and those giving it, my thanks to you all for your determination to get it right. Additionally my extra thanks to Evvo and Womble for the amazing job you both did of pulling it all together.

So that is message number one from me – it’s preparation that leads to the co-ordina- tion that WRG is so famous for and, because of the amazing organisation we are, that preparation can not only be reassuring it can actually be fun. If there was one consistent background noise during both LTD and TW it was laughter.

Now I do actually have a few other messages that I would like to have crated into this comment. But pressure of time (those pesky emails, meetings, phone calls, etc.) means that if I don’t get this to Martin he will probably explode and, if he does that, who’s gonna lay my bricks! So how about I just put them as bullet points below.

See you on site.

Hugs & Kisses

Mike Palmer

· The Canal Camps Site Burcos now run on Propane gas bottles not Butane. So that’s orange cylinders not blue.

· One of the outcomes of the LTD was a well-supported suggestion that the training we offered as part of the Legacy Leaders programme should be continued and offered to a wider audience. We are pondering this.

· You will no doubt have read in the Editorial that Navvies is going up in price. You know all those comments you have just read about communication from and to the Board? Well guess what? That applies just as much to Navvies. Make no mistake – Navvies is vital to WRG.

· A reminder that, regarding the new/modified categories in the Driver Authorisation scheme, – if you want something adding to your card you have to fill in an application form – just sending an email with “please can I have…..” doesn’t cut it.