Showcasing working towards Accessible Waterways
10:30am – 6:00pm • 2 December 2023
Trefoil House, 2 Ellis Street, Birmingham. B1 1HL
Please note, this event has now taken place and this page is left in place for information only. We intend to hold similar events in the future.
Index:
About the Day
The day is being run by the Accessible Waterways Association in conjunction with the Canal & River Trust and aimed at anyone with accessibility needs. You do not have to be a boater – just anyone who wants to enjoy our Inland Waterways environments.
We will start from 10:30am with registration and refreshments. The main programme commences at 11:00am with Tracey Clarke, founder of the Accessible Waterways Association, giving a brief talk outlining the day. This will be followed by a relaxed agenda of speakers, featuring keynote speaker, Paralympian Kyaker Rob Oliver. The agenda allows plenty of time to mingle, chat and investigate stall holders exhibiting how they are working towards making our Inland Waterways as accessible as possible.
Key Canal & River Trust (CRT) personnel discuss some of their accessibility initiatives. This includes an interview with Dick Vincent, National Towpath Advisor for CRT, and Marcus Chaloner introducing the new “Accessible Mooring Bollard” being developed in consultation with disabled boaters.
Speakers from the Waterways Chaplains, Marie Curie and a talk from Liz Humphreys about having a new boat bespoke built for her accessibility needs complete our formal presentations.
The last part of the day will be a time for Q&A, informal discussion and feedback.
A buffet lunch will be provided.
There is no charge for attending this event, but any donations would be appreciated. Please click on this link to donate via our GoFundMe page.
Please get your booking in early, as places are limited and will be on a first come first served basis.
Trefoil House is conveniently located in Central Birmingham with easy access from both Moor Street and New Street Stations as well as the Coach Station. For those coming by car, there is an NCP car park within a few minutes’ walk. Please see “How to get there” at the bottom of this page. We also have access to a small number of spaces nearer the venue. These can be booked on a first come first served basis for those who need them.
Speakers
Tracey Clarke – Founder AWA
Tracey is registered Severely Vision Impaired and is a live-aboard continuous cruiser with her husband Tim, guide dog Loki and hearing assistance dog Ozzie. They are Roving Traders, selling healthy dog treats – and more.
She set up the Inland Waterways Accessibility Forum (IWAF) on 1 October 2019 in response to the need for a discussion group for disabled boaters. As a result of this, regular meetings with Canal & River Trust (CRT) ensued, encouraging dialogue and awareness. In March 2020, she was co-opted onto the CRT Council as the Disabled Boaters’ representative.
Realising a more formal structure was needed, along with opening up discussions with other waterways authorities, Tracey founded the Accessible Waterways Association (AWA), becoming a Community Interest Company (CIC) on 21 August 2023.
Rob Oliver – Paralympic Kayaker
Rob Oliver was one of the six athletes to compete in Para canoes Paralympic debut at Rio 2016, where he finished fifth in the men’s KL3.
At Tokyo 2020 he reached the podium, claiming bronze in the Men’s Kayak Single 200m (KL3).
In 2019 Rob won bronze and silver medals just five days apart in Poznan at the European Championships and World Cup respectively, before helping to secure a men’s KL3 quota place for Tokyo 2020 with a fifth-placed finish at the World Championships.
Rob is a talented sportsman; after a spell as a weightlifter he played football at a variety of levels from 13-19. However in 2008 he broke his leg during a match and 17 operations and nine months later he had his leg amputated due to medical negligence. He was only 20 years old and, up until that point, had always been very active. He felt like this area of his life had come to an end, until he found kayaking in 2011. Once he realised he could still take part in competitive sport as an amputee, he decided to dedicate his life to becoming the very best.
Gearing up to Tokyo, Rob won bronze at the 2021 World Cup in Szeged.
Waterways Chaplaincy
Chaplains are volunteers from local churches who regularly visit the waterways, offering help, companionship and a listening ear to individuals and businesses. We are interested in whomever they meet, be they boaters, cyclists, walkers, runners, anglers or canal workers.
Liz Humpreys
Liz Humphreys is a 60 something boater. Over her six decades, she has led a full life, from working in a KFC, as a special police officer, to owning and running a multimillion £ business to digital design and photography company.
In around 2012, her life changed dramatically following a fall downstairs and the discovery of spinal issues. She subsequently developed two neurological conditions as well, all of which have left her disabled and forced medical retirement.
Not one for doing nothing, in the years following she started dating, moved afloat, and threw her creative yearnings into Designbywhacky. She then married her husband, having their reception at Foxton Locks, as they first met there aboard a day boat back in 1998. (Yes canal time strikes again, as it took him years to actually ask her out!). Finding information for disabilities afloat, in 2017 she decided to set up an online group, disabledboaters.org, for tips, banter, shared advice and support for those with different needs to enjoy the canals. Through this, she got involved with CRT discussions on accessibility, met the amazing Tracey Clarke, amongst others, and supported various boaters over the years getting answers and pointing them in the right direction.
Now back from a two year hiatus from the canals for major surgery, she is in the fortunate position of having an adapted narrowboat built by Reeves Brothers at Clifton Cruisers’ Hillmorton Wharf site. She is hoping to be afloat in her by Christmas, but we all know what canal time is like and it is an unusual build due to modifications, layout, as well as being a narrowbeam Dutch barge. She cannot wait to be home again.
Liz will be bringing her story to life, and telling us about having her specially adapted boat built.
Dick Vincent – CRT National Towpath Advisor
Dick Vincent has worked for Canal & River Trust for over a decade, mostly on projects encouraging people to be mindful of others when using towpaths. There are over 2,000 miles of towpath in the UK and are for everyone to enjoy. Dick lives on a boat himself and has travelled most of them – not least completing a John O’Groats to Lands’ End trip in 2018 using towpaths for around 50% of the journey.
Towpaths are easily some of the loveliest routes we have in England and Wales, connecting almost every major city via unique, historic green and blue paths – rich in nature and vital to the communities they touch. Mostly built over 200 years ago for horses to pull boats, they now offer relaxed traffic free routes which are especially appealing to those that are less confident or those that just want to get away from busy streets. This is, perhaps, why towpaths are more popular than ever and why we feel it is even more important that when people visit them, they Slow Down and Stay Kind.
We will be chatting with Dick on how the Trust manages towpaths as Shared Spaces with a Pedestrian Priority, and how he sees the way forward to making these historic spaces more accessible for all.
Marcus Chaloner – CRT Head of Placemaking and Design
Marcus is the mastermind behind the new “Accessible Mooring Bollard” which CRT intend to roll out across the system at designated accessible moorings. He will be discussing the new design and the intention is to have a prototype model available for study.
Rekha Vijayshankar – Marie Curie Research Nurse
Rekha is an experienced healthcare professional with over 15 years of experience in primary care, community nursing, health visiting, acute care, social care and hospice nursing. She completed her post graduate nurse training from King’s College, London, and is currently undertaking her Masters in Palliative Science from Cecily Saunders Institute of Palliative Care at King’s College, London.
She was brought to nursing from her lived experience of caring for her chronically ill husband. This experience continues to underpin her passion for evidence-based nursing, which is culturally sensitive and holistic.
Her Masters dissertation is a systematic review of the experiences of family care givers of minoritised and marginalised populations with a child with life limiting illness.
Rekha’s main academic and professional interest is in promoting equity of access for populations who have traditionally faced disadvantage. She won the Nursing times award for the Best Community Placement and was shortlisted as a finalist for the Nursing Times Rising Star of the Year award in 2019.
She also has post graduate degrees in Economics and in Business Management. Her interest in theology and the nurse providing spiritual care, informed her Associateship of King’s College award.
Exhibitors
Accessible Waterways Association
Fully independent of all waterways authorities, the Accessible Waterways Association (AWA) has been set up to inform, represent, and assist people who live with disabilities, impairments or accessibility issues, and who want to enjoy the Inland Waterways and their surrounding environments.
Bruce Boats (Kennet & Avon Canal Trust)
Four fully accessible widebeam boats on the Kennet & Avon Canal offering self-drive holiday hire and crewed day trips. Facilities include: ramps and lifts to access all areas of the boat, wet rooms with grab rails, spacious saloon area, inverters to power medical equipment, optional hoist/shower seat/raised toilet seat. Also option for a remote steering device using a joystick instead of the tiller. And all on one of the most attractive canals in the country!
Canal & River Trust
We are the UK’s largest waterways charity, looking after 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.
Food Allergy Friends Ltd
Bridging the gap between food hypersensitive diners and food businesses. Providing training, consultancy, and support to businesses, and resources and support for the food allergic community.
Lyneal Trust
The Lyneal Trust offers canal boat and cottage holidays and canal day trips in beautiful Shropshire for people with disabilities, illness or injury, or any other vulnerability and their family, friends and carers who may accompany them.
National Association of Boat Owners
The National Association of Boat Owners – NABO, a long established organisation representing all boaters on the UK’s waterways.
Navigating the System
Joseph Cook is a boater and co-lead of the University College London project ‘Navigating the System’, which focuses on healthcare access challenges for boaters of no fixed address. For more information, and to see the digital exhibition, visit their website.
Overwater Wheelyboat Services
Wheelchair accessible boat trips along the Shropshire Union Canal in rural South Cheshire on our Wheelyboat, Maughan Lass. We also operate a wheelchair accessible minibus to transport people with disabilities to our Wheelyboat base or other suitable, local venues. Both services are fully operated by our unpaid volunteers, and financed by donations and some charity funding.
Waterlodge UK
Our products are inherently very suitable for providing accessible access as the deck access is generally at the same height as a standard pontoon. They feature flat floors throughout, and the build can be customised to provide walk-in showers and special kitchens as required. Basically, every one of our boats is built to order and to the customer’s spec and requirements. We have successfully introduced some wheelchair user customers to the joys of living afloat.
Waterways Chaplaincy
Waterways Chaplains offers support to those who use and live on the UK waterways and canals. Chaplains are volunteers from local churches who regularly visit the waterways offering companionship and a listening ear to individuals and businesses.
https://www.waterwayschaplaincy.org.uk/
How to get there
Trefoil House is located on the corner of Ellis Street and Holloway Head in Birmingham. The entrance is through the doorway in the centre of the photograph. Although it looks a bit of a building site from the outside, the interior is immaculate and beautifully appointed and probably boasts the best accessibility provisions of any conference centre in Birmingham.
By train:
Trefoil House is served by 80, X21 and X22 buses. The nearest stop is Ernest Street (HH1), about a minute’s walk away.
- If arriving at Moor Street, then Moor Street Queensway stop is just 3 minutes walk away. Buses X21 and X22 run to Ernest Street.
- If arriving at New Street, then walk to St Martin’s Queensway Stop NS3 (approx 5 minutes), from which the 80, X21 or X22 will take just 2 minutes to Ernest Street.Alternatively, Trefoil House is only around 10 minutes walk from New Street Station. Exit via Stephenson Street and turn left onto Navigation Street. At the traffic lights, bear left down the pedestrian precinct which leads to John Bright Street. At the end, turn right into Station Street and left onto Suffolk Street Queensway. In a few paces is the Chinese Pagoda roundabout (Holloway Circus). Cross over right at the traffic lights and then go down Holloway Head. Ellis Street is the first road on the right and the entrance to Trefoil House is straight in front of you on the corner.
By coach:
From Birmingham Coach Station it is around a 6 minute walk to Upper Dean Street (Stop MK2), from which service 80 takes approximately 7 minutes to get to Ernest Street.
By car:
Trefoil House is conveniently located just off the A38. Turn off the M6 at Spaghetti Junction on the A38(M) Aston Expressway. Stay on the A38 until Holloway Circus (by the Radisson Blu Hotel). Leave on the slip road and take the third exit off the roundabout B4127 Holloway Head. Ellis Street is first turning on the right.
Please note there is very limited street parking available. However, it is possible to drop off right by the front entrance. There is a NCP public car park accessed from St Jude’s Passage. From the venue, retrace your steps and cross the Holloway roundabout onto Smallbrook Queensway. If going direct from the motorway, then take the first exit instead of the third at the Radisson Blu roundabout. Then first left into Hill Street, first left into Station Street and first left again into St Jude’s Passage.
B1 1HL, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom