Education bid launched to help clean-up canal (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Education bid launched to help clean-up canal
3:08pm Thursday 4th October 2012 in News
By Kate Jackson, Reporter
Campaigner Hayley Holmes and her son hard at work on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise cash for a project to educate people about the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Burnley and support efforts to clean it up.
The Canal & River Trust is appealing for help to raise £6,000 to cover a shortfall in funding for The Burnley Canal Communities Project.
The two-year scheme aims to teach people about the heritage of the canal from Gannow Tunnel to Reedley Marina, taking in the historic Straight Mile and Weaver’s Triangle.
It involves volunteering, school weeks, traditional craft courses, local history and an annual festival. The first Burnley Canal Festival was held in September for over a decade as part of the project, attracting more than 2,000 people.
The project received around £50,000 of funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and Burnley Borough Council but had a shortfall of £6,000 which they are now hoping will come through donations.
Emma Bartlet, Burnley Canal Communities officer, said: “This project is important because it is encouraging local people to access and value their local stretch of canal.
“Despite their fantastic historical significance, environmental and leisure benefits they unfortunately still remain underused around Burnley. We want to change that and make them more of a focus for local communities to enjoy for leisure, learning and health benefits, particularly for those who live close by to them.
“This project is making fantastic strides with this but we need to continue the developments we’ve made and public donations will go a long way to helping us achieve that.
”We would like to offer schools here in Burnley a free visit to the canal or a boat trip so they can learn about this amazing local heritage. We also hope to run free workshops for families to learn about canal arts and crafts.
“The project has already received so much brilliant support here in Burnley. From people giving up their time to volunteer, or local businesses giving small amounts we are so grateful. If people cannot afford to donate money we would really welcome them at our volunteer events.”
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7:35pm Thu 4 Oct 12
burnleyvoter says...