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Friends of RTBP Summer Newsletter
September 2019
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Dear Friends of the River Thames Boat Project,
Welcome to the Summer issue of the Newsletter. It's been another busy summer for the boat project. I live on the river and on many weeks I seem to have seen Thames Discoverer just about every day - one of the benefits of training up more skippers.
Education is going as strong as ever and in the next newsletter I will be featuring an article by Louise on volunteering at the Hermitage Moorings.
Kate D has been working hard to raise our presence in the local communities of Teddìngton and Kingston and if you want to help raise money why don't you join the Bridge to Bridge walk as a walker, a sponso r or a helper?
Your comments and stories are as welcome as ever.
Kate Oatham, Editor
kate@rtbpfriends.org
From the Wheelhouse
We are having a fantastic season thanks to the amazing contributions of our dedicated team of volunteers.  Our new volunteer skippers have gone the extra mile to make sure our cruises run smoothly. They have been well supported by great crew who always enhance the experience our clients have.
Whilst the river appears to be quieter this  season, that can’t be said of the number of trips we are doing which is up on last year. We hosted our community friend, The Barge Association’s Thames Rally at Canbury wharf and the dock at the beginning of June with some 20 barges attending. But the biggest event of the summer has been the dry-docking of Thames Venturer for four weeks over August. The Environment agency reopened Sunbury dry dock after a two year closure and we were the first boat to use the dock again. By the time you read this, we will be leaving the dock looking ship shape after a lot of repairs were made to the decks and her super structure was given a professional repaint.
The crew are the public face of the charity but there are many behind the scenes roles which keep the boats out and afloat - special thanks to Richard Oatham, Dave Murray and Lyn Baldwin who have carried out repairs and improvements to Thames Discoverer as well as recruiting new Linking People Afloat clients.
We look forward to a busy autumn.
Peter Oldham, Skipper
Fundraising News
It was a muggy June day by the river for the Harry Hawkes running event but our enthusiastic water station team kept the runners well watered and motivated to keep going. It’s a smaller event than some of the other ones we do,  so not quite so busy and also one of our more picturesque venues as we were on the Hampton Wick side of the river and Thames Discoverer was moored up nearby. Bacon butties on the boat afterwards went down well and we took a short cruise upstream before heading back to the mooring. Thank you to the team who helped on the day : John T, John F, Lyn, Ian, Vicky, Jane, Jim, Linda, Eric, Julian, Mike, Tim. We were also grateful for the donation of £200 from the event organisers.
September and October are busy months for water station action – volunteers are needed to man the water stations and if anyone would like to run and raise money for RTBP please contact me at kate@thamesboatproject.org
Kate Dodds, Marketing and Fundraising Manager
River Thames Boat Project
Bridge to Bridge Sponsored Walk
Sunday 29th September 2019
To celebrate 30 years of the River Thames Boat Project and to raise much needed funds, please join us for a Bridge to Bridge walk along the river, starting at Putney Bridge and finishing at Kingston Bridge
Fundraising target = £5,000
Route
The full route is 13.4 miles and follows the Thames Path National Trail. With a break for lunch, it is likely to take about 5-6 hours. The walk finishes at The Barge Dock just before Kingston Bridge and then everyone is welcome onboard Thames Venturer for refreshments and prizes. You can tackle the full route or join at different stages for a shorter walk. The walking is easy, level and signed throughout as the Thames Path National Trail.
Start and Finish and Timings
10am Meet at Putney Bridge
10.30 Start
12.30 Arrive at Mortlake
2.30 Arrive at Richmond
3.45 Arrive at Teddington Lock
4.15 onwards Arrive in Kingston at Thames Venturer at the Barge Dock by Kingston Railway Bridge
For a map of the route click here.
Please help by: taking part in the walk, volunteering to help on the day or sponsoring our walkers! Please contact Pippa for further information pippa@thamesboatproject.org
Kate Dodds, Marketing and Fundraising Manager
Education & Other Tales
Education has been going well this year; with 55 bookings so far we look likely to meet an ambitious target of 80 days. Likewise, Hermitage Community Moorings is continually appreciative of our collaboration. We have a few new education volunteers and I am updating our content and sprucing up resources ready for the autumn term. In particular, the field of plastic reduction, re-use and recycling has moved on so much that we need to update our content to keep up with children’s increasing understanding!
As many of you know, I took two months off for a  ‘Family Sabbatical’, and spent them in an off-grid low-carbon house with my family on the Greek island of Samothraki. We drank local water from the Samos mountains, lit fires for hot water and showered outside, with only solar energy and gas bottles to meet our energy needs. We loved it, and we loved the local environment, which was peaceful, mountain-pure, unspoilt and very rich in water resources.
 Apparently Samothraki has more water on it than all the other Greek islands put together. Water is managed around the island (about a third of the size of the Isle of Wight) by a series of pipes and tubes, which carry it from the numerous springs down towards dwellings. Historically, it was  treated as a precious resource, to be prized and venerated.The image Is of a chapel by the most enormous plane tree, which shows that the place is a water source. The planes always grow near the water and are one of the strongest species of tree on the island. The tree surely pre-dates the chapel, and speaks of an older wisdom than humanity.
We wanted to escape the stress and chaos of city life for a while, and we can still feel the effects months later: we’re happier, I was delighted to see my washing machine on returning home, but we missed the buzzard calls, the sea and the spectacular trees. We’ve realised what we’ve gained, but also what we’ve lost in returning to city life.
Zaria Greenhill, Education Coordinator
Community News
We were delighted to take part in two local events during June and July which help to build awareness of the charity and promote the work that we do in the local community.
Civic Service for the new Mayor of Richmond, Councillor Nancy Baldwin on the 30th June
 Kate had the opportunity to be part of A Service of Blessing and Thanksgiving to mark the beginning of the New Mayoral Year. It took place at St. Mary’s Parish Church in Twickenham followed by a reception at York House. A fantastic trumpet fanfare provided by Kneller Hall accompanied the entrance of the Mayor, Nancy Baldwin. The Reverend Jeff Hopkins Williams welcomed the congregation and one of the Mayor’s charities, Otakar Music Trust, performed Earth, Sea & Sky with four wonderful young singers. It was a pleasure to be included in the celebrations which heralded the start of the Mayor’s year and the tremendous work that she will do to support the Richmond community. Peter is pictured with the Mayor at the Volunteer Fair in Richmond.
River Blessing in Teddington on the 14th July
We felt very honoured to take part in a special River Blessing service on Sunday 14th July. The Rev Joe Moffatt invited us to speak about the work that we do in the community during the service at St Mary with St Alban Church.  Then Thames Discoverer with Peter at the helm and a group of Syrian refugees on board (see below), was on the water for the 2nd part of the service by the river. It was a wonderful celebration of the river and how the river blesses us. The Rev Joe Moffatt launched a wooden floral cross into the river and spoke very positively about the River Thames Boat Project as well as other local community organisations including the RNLI,  and Tamesis Club. The church choir sang beautifully and there was a Dragon Boat race with enthusiastic local Scouts and Guides teams. Thank you to Rev Joe for including us in this special service. Thank you to John Frye for the photos that record our memories of a lovely July morning down by the river.
Kate Dodds, Marketing and Fundraising Manager
Refugees join Discoverer for a River Blessing
Refugee Action Kingston (RAK) is a local charity providing advice and support for refugees and asylum seekers in Kingston. Kingston borough has always welcomed refugees and RAK supports more than 3,000 clients from numerous countries. When he learnt that I volunteer as an English tutor for RAK, Peter kindly invited a group of refugees to join Thames Discoverer for the annual Thames River Blessing at Teddington lock.
The morning of Sunday July 14th was disappointingly grey, when Marwa Belghazi, Syrian Vulnerable People Resettlement Scheme Coordinator, arrived with two Syrian families and news that a third family was running too late to join us. With Marwa translating, Peter welcomed the group on board and then, after a brief run through, tested us on the NATO phonetic alphabet!
From Kingston we headed downstream towards  Twickenham with the river wild-life and the lock at Teddington creating a lot of interest. After sailing as far as we could towards Twickenham we turned back to join the 2nd part of the River Blessing  conducted by Rev Joe Moffat from St Mary with St. Alban church. From the water, it was difficult to hear the service but the voices of the choir drifted towards us as the Rev launched the floral cross and the audience scattered flowers on the river.
The group thoroughly enjoyed the experience,  the opportunity to be on the river and take part in a local community event. This is the feedback from Marwa:
"On a cloudy Sunday, we embarked on a journey across the Thames River. The blessing of the water resembled rituals of prayers we are more familiar with on other shores and our group was thrilled to see that what brings us together is stronger than our differences. Thank you to the River Thames Boat Project for inviting us on board, may this be the first of many adventures we share."
Kate Oatham, Editor
A sleepover with a difference
On Thursday 1st August, just before heading off to the dry dock, Thames Venturer arrived at Tamesis Sailing Club to moor up overnight. She was greeted with much excitement by a group of 12 young sailing cadets who were taking part in a week’s summer camp at Tamesis Club. This was a collaboration with the Tamesis team and we had agreed to provide an overnight stay “with a difference” for the cadets, as part of their programme.
 Peter O and Linda V greeted them onboard and briefed them about the boat followed by some of our river related learning activities. After a meal in the clubhouse, the chance for the parents to take a tour of the boat, and a bat watch on the deck of Thames Venturer, the cadets settled in their bunks for the night with Peter O staying onboard to keep charge. There were some early wakers, but everyone slept well and enjoyed breakfast in the galley – bacon rolls – of course.
The feedback we had from our Tamesis Club partners was very positive.
Kate Dodds, Marketing and Fundraising Manager
Miranda receives her British Empire Medal
The 5th April dawned bright and breezy, a perfect spring day for a trip to the Tower of London. The investiture was attended by about 40 people who were to receive their British Empire Medal or an award for bravery. None of us knew what to expect and, to be honest, I thought the morning would be rather dull - how wrong I was!
We were welcomed by Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, who praised London for its creativity, diversity and welcoming sprit, and said that we would learn in the next hour or so quite how remarkable some Londoners are.
One after another the citations were read out. There were three holocaust survivors who had devoted their lives to teaching children and young people about their experiences, a number of people who worked with people with disabilities, a woman whose award was for services to diversity and another for gardening. Then there were the awards for bravery, given to five people for their swift actions on 7/7, at the Houses of Parliament and at Borough Market. They indeed had all achieved amazing things in their lives.
So why, I reflected, was I was there? I had been put  forward some 18 months previously by a group of Boat Project volunteers for taking Martin Emerson’s idea of an accessible ecology barge and in his words “running with it”. At the same time, I became Chair of the National Community Boats Association and used the experience I had gained to develop its Certificate in Community Boat Management. I also mentored others on their journey to create new community boat projects, including the Jubilant Trust of which I became one of the first Trustees.
 My BEM silver medal on its rose-pink ribbon represents the friendships of so very many interesting people and so many memories. I can’t thank enough those who kindly put me forward for the award, I am deeply honoured.
Miranda Jaggers
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Don’t forget that you can buy our special 30 years of RTBP recycled cotton bag. Perfect for family and friends, easy to send and great for raising funds and to build awareness of the charity. The bags are available to buy at £7.50 each. They are available on the boat or from the office. They will also be available at upcoming events eg. the Sponsored Walk in September. Payment by cash, cheque or BACS. Please contact Pippa.