Canal Volunteer Awards Launched
[Enter Date]
For Immediate Release
Canal Volunteer Awards Launched
Nominations for this year’s Scottish Canal Volunteer Awards have just been opened and judges are inviting entries for a huge variety of categories demonstrating the value of work done by the many volunteers who work to keep Scotland’s Canal Network as a vibrant and attractive facility for the general public to enjoy.
New to this year’s awards programme is the “Un-sung Hero” category where the judging panel is looking for an individual, group or organisation who work away behind the scenes to maintain a section of the canal or Tow Path, or run a facility, operation or private venture for the benefit of those using the canal and its surroundings.
Ronnie Rusack, Chairman of the judging panel, says …
“There are literally hundreds of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep our canals operating safely and looking attractive. Many are well known faces to the canal community, but there are many out there who beaver away on their own, and up until now, they have received little recognition. The Un-sung Hero award will hopefully go some way to rectifying this”
Other awards this year include The Canal Society of the Year; Best Social / Community Engagement Project; Best Volunteer Led Canal Festival or Event; Best Volunteer Led Tourist Attraction and The Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to someone who in the opinion of the judges has contributed to the success & appeal of the canals over a protracted period.
The awards ceremony will be held later in the year at the prestigious Falkirk Wheel, but submissions are now invited from the public to nominate deserving winners.
Full details of all categories and how to nominate are on the awards web site at www.scva.co.uk
ENDS
Notes to Editors …
- The Scottish canal Network is some 140 miles of navigable waterway, and includes bridges, buildings, locks, The Falkirk Wheel, The Kelpies, 19 reservoirs and numerous aqueducts. The Avon Aqueduct on the Union Canal is the second largest in the UK.
- The reservoirs cover an area equivalent to 7,494 football pitches and supply the canals with the 332 million litres of water which flow through them each day.
- 2020 is the Scottish Government Year of Coasts and Waters (#YCW2020), and the Scottish Canal Network forms a major part of the initiative.
- The Scottish Boat Rally, celebrating the Year of Coast & Water, is taking place on 23rd & 24th May at the Falkirk Wheel, and on the Forth & Clyde Canal between the Wheel and the famous Kelpies.
- Scottish Canals have generated around £1.53 billion pound of investment in the canal corridors across Scotland since the re-opening of the Lowland inland waterways in 2002. A recently commissioned study found that the regeneration of Scotland’s canals has acted as a catalyst for an extraordinary £1.53 billion of investment on and around their banks, contributing to the creation of thousands of new houses and jobs.
