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Fundraising for the Canal & River Trust


If you are a regular canal or river user, then you may well have heard that big changes are afoot for the waterways. From April 2012, British Waterways’ navigations will be transferred to the care of a brand new waterways charity - the Canal & River Trust. Although the charity will still have a funding contract with the Government, it will also be able to generate income through fundraising.

This is obviously one of the biggest differences between British Waterways and the new charity, and the person in charge of bringing about this huge change is the first ever head of fundraising Ruth Ruderham. Ruth is an experienced fundraiser who has worked at charities including Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth and Crisis, and was named Professional Fundraiser of the Year in 2005. She joined British Waterways in August 2011 and has been hard at work putting everything in place to ensure a successful start for the charity next year.

As part of our series of interviews looking ‘behind the scenes’ at British Waterways, waterscape asks Ruth how fundraising will work in the Canal & River Trust.

What made you get into fundraising?

I actually trained as a chartered accountant. I enjoyed working with people and money, but I wanted to do something more worthwhile. I decided to use my financial skills in the charity sector.

Why did you take the job here?

This job is an almost unique opportunity. Most charities, certainly of this size, have very established fundraising methods, they have been doing it for a long time. This, however, is an opportunity to start from scratch. British Waterways is already doing such a lot of great work but fundraising means engaging the public in a new way.

My first impressions are that British Waterways is a very friendly organisation. The people I have met have huge enthusiasm for what fundraising could mean and lots of good ideas have been put forward.

What fundraising methods will the new waterways charity use?

We are not planning to have a membership scheme like that offered by, for example, the National Trust. This is because the main thing we offer is access to the special places that we look after, and we want to continue to keep them free for everyone to enjoy.

Instead, we want to encourage people who care about the waterways to support us with regular donations. We have done a lot of research that shows there are very good prospects for the new charity to raise money in this way. There are 13 million visitors to the canals each year – including boaters, walkers, cyclists and others. All these people know how important canals, rivers and towpaths are. We need to get the message out about the work that we do to preserve these places. When they see the difference they can make, we hope they will support us, either by giving, or volunteering.

Will there be people rattling tins on the towpath?

We have a lot of land and we believe people are best placed to understand the benefits of giving when they are on the spot and can see exactly what their money will go towards. So there will be face-to-face fundraisers in some places.

What will the money be spent on?

Every penny we raise from fundraising will be spent directly and only on work to improve and maintain the waterways - not on things like administration and salaries. It will be used to make the canals and towpaths better for people and wildlife and to do new work that we haven’t been able to do in the past.

For example, we will be clearing overgrown areas and improving the canals as green corridors for wildlife. In some places, we plan to plant edible hedgerows, with fruit trees and berries.

Where do you see the charity in ten years?

My intention is to have 100,000 people supporting us regularly – bringing in around £10 million a year in extra money that we wouldn’t otherwise have.

Sign up for updates on the new waterways charity.

Ruth will do her best to respond to questions posted in comments. However, due to her busy schedule, she will only be able to respond to comments posted in the next five working days.

Last updated: 06/10/2011

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