From the Wheelhouse
 

The year started with our first fundraising event on 18th February. A merry band of volunteers turned out early for our water station in support of the Hampton Court half marathon. Together with our runner Nansi Eggleton we raised over £1,000.

With the arrival of Thames Discoverer, crew familiarisation began in earnest, followed later in the year with two days of education team training. 

Spring saw the arrival of “red boards“ on the river- indicating strong flow after a period of heavy rain. An ideal opportunity to test the handling and performance of Discoverer. She passed with flying colours.

With the river returning to normal we were able to start running trips. A number of volunteers have been training to become volunteer skippers. We celebrated the first volunteer skipper led trip by Roy Poole on 2nd May and look forward to many more as the season continues. 

Bookings continue to come in and increasingly for both boats on the same day! We are always amazed and very grateful to our team of volunteers who make all these trips possible. We look forward to a bumper year.

Peter Oldham, Skipper
 

Thames Discoverer Naming Ceremony

After much scrubbing and polishing, on Sunday 13 June skipper Peter Oldham took Thames Discoverer, gleaming in glorious spring sunshine, downstream to The Anglers at Teddington for the naming ceremony.

Over 100 well-wishers, including the Mayors of Richmond and of Kingston, the charity’s President Sir Peter Harrop, Linda Emerson wife of the charity’s founder Martin Emerson, funders including Alan Lenton Chair of the Lest We Forget Association, Noel Simmons, Peter Finch Chair of the River Thames Society and many others whose donations had made the design and build of the boat possible, gathered that afternoon at The Anglers. They were joined in the pub garden by the boat’s designer Graham Westbrook, Boat Project volunteers, Friends and staff. Unfortunately, Corporate Friend Bassam Al-Jazy’s couldn’t make it because his flight from Jordan was delayed but Clare Winstanley, a childhood friend of Miranda Jaggers, who lives on Vancouver Island and had donated to the new boat fund, was able to join in the celebrations.

Keith Knox, Acting Chair of Trustees, was master of ceremonies. He thanked everyone for coming and introduced the VIPs on the pontoon. Then the boat, her crew and future clients were blessed by local Vicar Joe Moffett, using a blessing specially prepared for the ceremony. Patron Baroness Jane Campbell, equality and human rights campaigner, made a moving speech about how much she enjoyed being by the river, but as a wheelchair user had been unable to get on the river easily and with dignity. She said she was delighted that our boats have changed all of that and was impressed to see how accessible both Thames Venturer and Thames Discoverer are. In the time-honoured way Baroness Campbell named Thames Discoverer and smashed a bottle of champagne over the bows. The Mayor of Richmond proposed a toast to the new boat, glasses were raised and Prosecco quaffed. Our guests were then invited to go on board to view Thames Discoverer and a splendid afternoon tea was provided by the pub.

The whole event ran very smoothly, thanks to careful planning by Project Manager Miranda Jaggers. Peter Oldham and Mate Peter Gallon took up the task of designing a device that would enable Baroness Campbell to break the champagne bottle. Peter came up with an ingenious solution: a hinged post that held the bottle, a pin and a long piece of string. One end of the string would be tied to the pin, the other end to the Baroness’s wheelchair. All she had to do was to reverse her chair, the pin would be pulled out and the post with its bottle would drop down. After the first practice run, a couple of adjustments were made to the design. On the big day it worked perfectly and the moment captured on camera by Judy Cope, our former Office Manager, who had come down from Harrogate for the occasion.  

Special thanks go to the manager and staff of The Anglers who looked after us all very well and to the Landmark Arts Centre for providing the PA system.

Miranda Jaggers, New Boat Project Manager
 

Education & Learning News

Education has been very busy in 2018 so far. The last financial year closed at the end of March, with 58 bookings in education, a figure which slightly exceeds the agreed target of 55. Part of this success has been a policy of sending large numbers of unsolicited emails and leaflets to appropriate schools over a large geographical area. Some new school clients have been picked up this way, a promising start to a planned geographical expansion of our school client-base. To date, a high proportion of our schools have been repeat bookers; they are consistent clients of many years’ standing, pointing to the good reputation we have locally.

Another development in education is the pilot home education project: ‘Thames Adventures’, which is aimed at families who educate their children at home. They are growing in number; Zaria did some research in the area and found out that according to the BBC, there has been a 65% rise in primary-aged children being home educated in the last 6 years. Anecdotally, she discovered that many families actively search for outdoor learning activities for their children so we started marketing ‘Thames Adventures’ in April this year, and sold out the first date within a few days! The first pilot day was 30th May, so expect to see news here later in the year. Further dates are planned for late July and mid August (the summer holidays). 

If you happen to know a family who are educating their own children, aged between 6 and 12, you are welcome to put them in touch with me if they’d like to come along.

The Heathrow Drastic Plastic project is proceeding well. Zaria and John Frye, notable Friend of the Charity, volunteer and valued photographer, were taken on a ‘Passive Debris Collector’ on the Thames in central London to see exactly how it works. These devices are used by the Port of London Authority to gather surface flotsam and jetsam which might impede navigation. Now it gathers some of the plastic that floats down the Thames towards the sea. 

     
Zaria on a Passive Debris Collector with a member of PLA staff

The images generated will be used in the Drastic Plastic teaching resources and online for promotion purposes. We have now run two pilots of Drastic Plastic, and learned that children know a good bit more than adults about this subject! The story continues…

The contents of the Passive Debris Collector, an accumulation of just a few days. This clump is estimated to be about 1.5m deep, but notice how much of it is bottles with the caps on, ie, buoyant. There may be many more filled with water further down in the water column, which is where they may not be collected and are potentially more harmful to wildlife.

Many thanks to John Frye for his photos.

Zaria Greenhill, Education Coordinator


Farewell to Miranda

As many of you will already know, Miranda is leaving the Charity and her last day in the office will be the 12^th June. We will miss her as she has given long and devoted service and it is fair to say that the Charity is now in a position to face the new challenges ahead due to her efforts along with others over the past years.

On a personal note, I have known and worked with Miranda for the nine years that I have been involved with the Charity and I hope that our friendship will continue on into the future.

In recognition of her long service a leaving do has been organised for Friday 22nd June,  Details will be announced shortly.
         
Keith Knox, Acting Chair of Trustees
 

Thames Discoverer Supper Cruises
 
As some of you know, we are running several supper cruises for Friends and their friends to get to know Thames Discoverer. For those of you who thought the first one was on 31 May that proved to be a ‘date too soon’ so did not run. Supper cruises on 12 and 26 July are full, but as we go to press there are still two spaces on the 14 June cruise available and anyone receiving this newsletter is welcome to book on that. 
 
Join us for a relaxing supper cruise to experience our beautiful new vessel Thames Discoverer. This is a chance to get to know Discoverer over the course of a leisurely evening while contributing towards the future delivery of our services on her to clients.

We will assemble on board at 18:30 for a glass of Prosecco and canapes, followed by a two-course dinner. We will sail at about 19:00, with the return planned for 21:30. Enjoy the eveningtime river from our deck level saloon as you are dining. Just ten places available on each evening for a charitable contribution of £45 per head for the cruise and dinner including wine, beer and soft drinks. You (and your friends) are invited to come. 
 
Tickets are available through Eventbrite; just click the link below and follow the instructions for registering and making your donation.

14 June
 
We hope to see you on board!

Martha Tressler



A Client Story: Kingston Centre for Independent Living

Kingston Centre for Independent Living (KCIL) is a local charity with a mission to provide information, advice and support to all disabled people living in the Royal Borough of Kingston, to empower them to have a voice, take control of their lives, and be treated equally.
 
KCIL has been a client of the Boat Project for a number of years and in May this year Maria Keskes and Sophie Camara from KCIL accompanied a group of their clients on their first cruise on the Discoverer. On this occasion the clients were predominantly wheelchair users and their carers.
 
The weather wasn’t great – not sunny and very windy – but in no way did this detract from the overall enjoyment. On previous trips they’ve only got as far as Shepperton so there was added interest in reaching Weybridge this time. Highlights of the trip were the camaraderie, the caring and inclusive crew, the sights along the way and a lot of fun!
 
The Discoverer compared very well to the Venturer – although smaller, it seemed more spacious and, once on the main deck, everything was fully accessible. Fittings were well thought out – from the removable windows to the folding tables and the crockery. The group spent most of time in the main cabin but all fitted in the outside deck, with the only quibble that wheelchair users could see to the side but not forward.
 
From the clients: ‘Best ever trip I have had…..’; ‘….It was lovely to see the river from eye level and also to see the River Wey. The crew were very friendly and funny…..’; ‘An adventurous trip. Thoroughly enjoyed by all.’
 
From the KCIL staff: ‘We had a wonderful day! The crew were amazing and we could also enjoy the day. The new boat is great and fully accessible.'
 
KCIL anticipate booking another trip in September.

Kate Oatham


General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

As everyone who has an email address will know by now, the law regarding privacy changed on May 25th, following the new GDPR regulations.

We love to keep you updated about our charity's work, to give you opportunities to support or volunteer with us and to invite you to events we are organising. To do this, we need your permission. 

So, if you do not wish to receive any further communication from the River Thames Boat Project, please tell us so at any time and we will stop. Email us on info@thamesboatproject.org or check the unsubscribe link at the end of this newsletter. For now, we will continue to send you appropriate information in line with your role within the charity, and we promise never to abuse your rights or to overwhelm you with irrelevant pieces of communication.

Our privacy policy - which will appear on our website very soon - has also been rewritten and strengthened. It will tell you about how we hold your data, what we use it for and your rights. If you have any concerns in this area, please contact us.