On board with the Peter Le Marchant Trust

“We’ve had 14 severely disabled children and their carers on board today.  One boy has never reacted to anything before.  But he started to respond for the first time ever when he was on the boat.  It was just wonderful.”A very pleased and excited Phil
volunteer with the trust. He waited for the other boat to come back to tell this good news.

“I remember one day we had a group of severely disabled children on board and suddenly in the afternoon one of the nurses came to me in tears.  I thought something awful had happened; someone had been injured perhaps and my heart was in my mouth.  A little girl had elbowed her in the ribs and  said, ‘I like this boat I do’.  She had never uttered a word before then and the nurse was overwhelmed with emotion about what had happened on the boat that day.” Maureen, volunteer for more than thirty years

“They have been much better behaved than normal on the boat.  Three of the boys usually really wind each other up, but they’ve been a lot calmer than normal today.  We thought they’d be bored, but they haven’t been;  there’s lots to see.” Carer with school trip

Mick, Treetops

“This is my first trip on the boats.  I’d like to come back . Some people might find it boring, just the changing scenery going by all the time, but that’s them.  I like sitting here, watching, and relaxing.

I used to do five mile runs with bricks in my hands and then do weights in the garage….just for training.  I also used to take the dog for a walk and see foxes. And we don’t do holidays much any more.

At home now I sometimes sit with the television off and look at the garden.  On this trip I can look at the water and the banks and hedges.  That’s my favourite bit; it’s always changing.”

June 2010

Crew members Vic, Charles, Margaret, Catherine and Phil.

Well, if I want to keep myself fit and busy once I retire, this is the way to do it. Didn’t stop today.  25 elderly but ambulant passengers on board – all absolutely delightful company. We volunteers worked six locks, took 25 lunch orders and phoned them through to the pub, made more than 50 cups of tea and sold loads of pens and tea towels. Then vacuumed and tidied for tomorrow’s trip.  Aching and slightly surprised that I only had ten minutes to see the canal and riverside go by.  Rest of the crew were charming and interesting  – old hands who said it had been one of their busiest days.  Mind you, they didn’t look phased.   And they are all at least 20 years older than me! They even had time to quote Shakespeare to me – thank goodness it was my O Level text and I recognised it.  Otherwise, feeling slightly inadequate.  Will sleep like a log.

Skipper – Charles, retired manager for a bank.
Crew – Catherine, retired from bank. Colin, retired salesman and trainer and quoter of Shakespeare and poems.
Boat – Serenade
Trip – Loughborough to Zouch
Weather – Warm, muggy and mostly overcast
Wildlife – Dragonflies, nesting swan, duck and ducklings (Mallard), coot, moorhen, heron

Second day’s volunteering

It can be wet...

Awful weather. I was wet from cycling to the boat, despite full waterproofs.  Transferred from Serenade to Symphony after volunteer Louise banged her head rather too hard on a closed hatch over a stairway. Everything in different places o this boat – but soon got the hang of it.  Much more time to see the waterways, gardens, livestock and wildlife this time, but always through the raindrops and the mist of our breath in the cold June air.

Passengers were a group of very elderly, two in wheelchairs.  Oldest 96 and still living independently.  Youngest 61, but disabled from birth.  All up for a good time despite weather!  The group has been coming each year for a long time. One lady passenger used to be a farmer and said she really loves seeing the cattle and horses on the banks.  She misses her livestock. The group had picnic on board and their helpers were amazing – had been up at 4am making trifle for the picnic. I felt guilty that they wouldn’t let us help them more. They even offered us strawberries and trifle – of course we said yes please!.  Not nearly so tired as last time.  Perhaps that was a baptism of fire.  Was even allowed to have a very quick steer of the boat – on a very straight, wide bit of the river.  I wouldn’t recommend its handling to Jeremy Clarkson, but the peace and slowness would please a Buddhist monk.  The rain makes really relaxing little circles on the water.

Skipper – Colin, retired airline pilot.  6 years volunteering.
Crew – Shakespeare Colin, from last time.  John.
Boat – Symphony
Trip – Loughborough to Barrow
Weather – Persistent, heavy, sometimes torrential rain – really needed my waterproof leggings!
Wildlife – Mayflies, four nesting swans, duck and ducklings (Mallard), coot, moorhen, heron, and cormorant.

Third day’s volunteering

Volunteers at the shop offering merchandise.

Promising morning, but the heavens opened after lunch and torrential rain just poured down the outside of the boat.  Beginning to think I am cursed with the weather.  So stayed below and made tea and coffee and sold merchandise.  Waterproofs essential for the poor skipper and lock crew.  They volunteer for this too but have no shelter at all. Great for sunny days – and they tell me they do get them.  A woman called Margaret was meant to be a passenger, but she says she’s the sort of person who can’t sit down (evidenced by pedometer clipped to waistband) and, as she is a fill-in volunteer for the trust, we beetled about the kitchen together – being cowardly about the rain.

Did £42 of merchandise sales from ‘the shop’. I am delighted by how much people want to buy.  We don’t force anyone, just offer.  ‘Super posh pens’ were the big seller today!  All the profits go towards running the boats and passengers get a memento of the trip. Everyone’s a winner!

When we moored up back at base, Phil – a volunteer from the other boat – came to tell us two things.  They’d had no rain – it really must be me!  More importantly,  they had taken 14 severely disabled children out.  He came to tell us that one of the boys, who has not been known to respond to any stimuli before, had definitely reacted to the trip.  Phil was absolutely made up. Seeing such milestones in other people’s lives is obviously one of the joys of volunteering here.

Skipper – Trevor
Crew –  Jon, Margaret, her husband Vic (former engineer)
Boat – Serenade
Trip –  Loughborough to Zouch
Weather – Overcast morning.  Torrential showers early pm.  Bright sunshine for end of trip!
Wildlife – Ducks (Mallard), moorhen, coot, swans.  Lots of raindrops.

Fourth day’s volunteering

Colin the skipper in waterproofs at Barrow.

Clouds but no rain today.  Excellent.  Today’s crew are old hands.  Ann can’t remember how long she’s been volunteering for Peter Le Marchant, but it seems to be getting on for 30 years now.  She started as a fundraiser and then moved onto the boats.  Maureen and Robert (married) seem to have boats in their blood as they met when they were working for P&O. They’ve been round Cape Horn five times, but they seem to be very happy with the serenity of the Grand Union Canal now!

Spoke to some really interesting passengers today. A multiple sclerosis support group who had a really good time on the boat.  I asked some of them about their lives and what the boat trips mean to them.  Got some amazing answers.  And one passenger, who had worried she would be badly affected by the boat’s motion, has decided all is OK, and to take up her husband’s offer of going on a family canal boat trip with their two young daughters.  We gave them a leaflet for Melody our adapted holiday boat for families!

Skipper – Colin
Crew –  Robert (retired ship’s captain), Maureen (retired nanny), Ann (retired maker of bridal headdresses), Julia (retired teacher)
Boat – Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Mountsorrel
Weather – Cold and overcast, but no rain – hurrah.
Wildlife –  Swans on nests, Aylesbury ducks, Mallards with young, moorhen with chicks, heron

Fifth day’s volunteering

Ron entertaining the passengers.

Hot enough for sun hats.  At last.  A class from a special school was on board for a lesson today.  Many in wheelchairs.  Some blind. Some more physically able, but with learning difficulties.  They ranged from 6 to 11 years old and were great to be with.  Someone who lives in Barrow has built a ‘castle wall’ at the bottom of their garden.  Huge, white, crenellated, and with four large black cannon pointing towards the water.  It looks impressive. The children were delighted, and slightly scared.  They asked if they should duck!

Obviously we don’t take the children for a pub lunch!  They stopped for a long picnic under the shade of a willow tree instead, with all the catkin fluff flying around like confetti in the light breeze . It was great.  Their carers say their journey really calmed them.

Skipper – Trevor
Crew –  Pat, Ron (musician), John (retired editor), Laurie (retired company manager), Julia (retired teacher)
Boat –  Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Barrow marina for a picnic
Weather – Some sunshine at last.
Wildlife –  Didn’t notice much – too entertained by the children.

Sixth day’s volunteering

My tiny brain has finally worked out that you really can’t hurry a trip on a canal.  The water flows at its own pace.  The lock gates open and close at their own speed, and sometimes only when two people lean on them; you can’t hurry 20 tonnes of oak through the water; you’d give yourself a hernia.   The kettles boil for tea and coffee at their own speed, and the passengers need time to take their biscuits off the plate.  So volunteering here makes me slow down too.  So while I am waiting for a lock to fill, I chat, or look for wildlife, or just watch the water and feel the wind/rain/sun on my face.   Those are good things in this life full of speed and concrete and rush. So it’s not only the passengers that get the benefits; it’s me too. I feel a bit guilty about that, but it’s a wonderful side effect. Perhaps the sunny weather helped too.

Skipper – Trevor
Crew – Vivien, Jim (retired fire officer) and me.
Boat –  Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Mountsorrel
Weather – Sunny.
Wildlife – Lots! Especially dragonflies and damsel flies

Seventh day’s volunteering

Zouch Lock on a misty morning

Feeling well into the swing of this now.  Know the routines well – help passengers carers on board and get them settled, cast off,  make tea for passengers and crew, short break, take any pub lunch orders, help people swap on and off the bow on the lift, help people off for lunch.   Work all the locks in between all this.   Then turn the boat around.  Have our own lunch and a sit down.     Love chatting to the passengers, and noticing the wildlife and showing them too. Have got to know where the swans are nesting, where the chicks hang out, and where the herons fish which means we can point them out to the passengers.

Skipper –  Chris
Crew –  Kevin (technical manager at a theatre), Deirdre (former manager of the same theatre), Rod (former naval electrician) and me.
Boat – Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Zouch
Weather –  Very sunny and hot
Wildlife –  The regulars.  More chicks than before.

Eighth day’s volunteering

Passenger Patrick and new friends on Symphony's bow.

Met a new volunteer today – new to me.  Margaret worked as a carer and came on the boat trips for 11 years.  She loved them so much she decided to volunteer for Peter Le Marchant when she retired.  And she’s been regular Wednesday crew ever since.  Vic got involved after seeing an old customer of his on the television – with a model of Symphony.  The model-maker was one of the staff skippers, Trevor, and he suggested Vic come and volunteer -  and he’s been here ever since.

Three groups on today.  Apparently this is a way of keeping costs down and making sure space on the boats is not wasted.  One of the organisers was saying what great value it is, getting a really restful 4-5 hour trip, with a skipper/chauffeur and tea makers, all for £7 a head.  Got lots of kisses today – several from Cath, along with her firm handshake. She has learning difficulties, but the carer said it was her way of saying thank you.  And one from Michael who has Downs Syndrome, who said, “I’ve enjoyed myself, I ‘ave!”

No more trips on the other boat, Serenade, this year. She’s being prepared for the first of 15 continuous weeks of four night trips.  She looks wonderful with all the beds set up. Very cosy.  Have noticed I am starting to refer to the boats as ‘she’.

Skipper – Charles
Crew –  Catherine, Phil, Margaret and Vic
Boat – Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Zouch.  Some had pub lunch. Some had pub drinks and a picnic.
Weather –Wall-to-wall sunshine
Wildlife – Heron (three!), duck (various), moorhen, swans, coot, dragonflies, damselflies, water lilies coming into flower.

Ninth day’s volunteering

Treetops passengers below deck.

Met some delightful passengers and their carers today – from the Treetops hospice in Derbyshire.  Their three minibuses made a full boat load.  The hospice gives day care and therapy for people with cancer and multiple sclerosis.  Mick used to run five miles a day with bricks in his hands or walk his dog in the country before his illness.  He said he loved looking out of the boat’s windows at the hedges and the wildlife.  He couldn’t tear his eyes off the view for the whole five hours. Carol came on board with her husband.  She talked about how peaceful it was on the boat, and that she was in no pain. Jed, her other half, talked about how nice it was for him too:  “we don’t do holidays any more, but on a beautiful English summer’s day who’d want to be stuck in the house?”  Even the group organiser was waxing lyrical.  She’s worked at the hospice for 19 years, and said it’s getting busier than ever.   She told me, “it’s hard work getting here [with all the right people, food, medication, etc] but it’s a really restful five hours for me too, once we are here.”

And I suppose that’s why I volunteer on the boats – not just to keep me busy, but because hearing these sorts of stories makes me feel I’ve helped to do a little bit of good too.

Skipper –  Colin
Crew –  Margaret, Ann, Robert, Catherine
Boat –  Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Mountsorrel
Weather – Warm and sunny
Wildlife – Swans, Mallards and Aylesbury duck, dragonflies, damsel flies, coot, moorhen.  Everything seems to have chicks except the swans, which are just nesting. Herons obviously hiding today; or gone fishing.

Tenth day’s volunteering

Barrow Deep Lock.

I danced a version of Strip the Willow, the Scottish dance, up and down Symphony’s aisle today; with Trevor, the trip organiser from the Thorpe Acre Church elderly group.  Not sure that was the kind of thing I was expecting when I volunteered, but it happened! And it was great.  Ron, regular Friday volunteer, guitarist and harmonica player had asked if the group wanted live music, and then played all sorts.  There was much laughing at my and Trevor’s efforts, and I fear I might have cracked his knee with mine.  The other passengers were singing, clapping and foot tapping along to all the songs.

I met another ‘new’ volunteer today.  June was brought up on a farm and is a retired teacher.  She said, “I’ve had nothing to do with boats at all in my life.  I just did a favour for a friend one day when the crew was going to be short staffed, and I loved it.  This is my third season now.  It’s so restful being on the water, even though you don’t stop working all day.  I love it.”

Skipper – Trevor
Crew –  Pat, Julia, Laurie, John, Ron and June
Boat – Symphony
Trip –  Loughborough to Zouch for a pub lunch
Weather – Overcast, but dry
Wildlife – All the usual – though the chicks are really growing up now.  Other crew saw the first cygnet of the year, but I missed it (both ways).  Serves me right for dancing. Perhaps on the next trip…
Dancing – enthusiastic, but lacking finesse!

End of the diary for now

No more entries! Sorry, but I’m off to enjoy the outdoors and the company of the passengers, carers and other volunteers, and not tie myself to my computer.   There are locks to work and cups of tea to make.  I hope this has given you a flavour of what it’s like to volunteer for the Peter Le Marchant Trust.  If you’ve got this far, you are probably interested, so why not try it out?

James

James Munro Callan
Thorpe Acre Church Wednesday group
Talks about his trip on Symphony on his way for a pub lunch at Zouch

“I’m registered blind.  I can see a little bit but I have to wear my special St Dunstan’s  glasses to rest my eyes. I’ll be 86 in July.

I was an able seaman in the navy.  I was called up and served three years.  I helped the shipping convoys across the Atlantic. Then I worked in iron foundries for the railways, making parts for locomotives.

I love swimming.  I learned to swim in a canal up north you know, when I was six.  And I loved dancing, but my legs won’t let me any more.

What do I like about the trip on Symphony?  I can see the swans;  they go past slowly enough – not like the traffic on the roads.  I have to be careful of the cars now.   And I like the fact that I’ve nothing to do!”

“There had been signs that something was creeping up.  But I didn’t connect up the dots.  I had fallen out of the shower…fallen out of the patio doors.  I kept tripping up on the slightest of uneven paving stones, and my daughter would say ‘Dad!  Pick your feet up’.

“The doctor had diagnosed either a tumour or multiple sclerosis.  I asked for a second opinion.  I had to go into hospital for a week of tests. I was coming back to the ward after tests on the Tuesday when everyone was around the telly, watching the twin towers in New York.  Then I got my diagnosis on the Thursday.

“I used to work in the community, setting up community credit unions.

“Now I have to have the electric chair.  I can’t even write any more.

“I’ve been twice on these boats.  Being outside and a free agent is the one thing I miss.  And this allows me to be more of a free agent.  I like the company of people.  It’s about being on an outing with people, doing something different other than the mundane. It’s a bit of variety.  With the illness you become a non-entity.  This is a change, and you’re with people.  It doesn’t have to be a big thing – just something different.”

Peter Tattersall
Hinckley MS Group
10 June 2010
on Symphony

Barbie ready for the off

I am doing this for the Peter Le Marchant Trust which puts a smile on the face of countless disabled children and adults though their canal trips. We need to keep the boat afloat for the child who spoke for the first time for several years; the stroke victim who spoke, again for the first time for ages; these are the stories of smiles that make this such a worthwhile charity to support.

All donations are  invaluable, as they enable the work of the charity  to continue – there are  some whose illness is so critically life-limiting, that their trip, which gives them a one-off joyful experience, may never be repeated.

Please help –  give as generously as you can to bring a new smile to the face of some-one unable to enjoy so many things that most take for granted.

It’s worth walking all those miles if it raises new smiles and keeps the boat afloat.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Very well done Lynn and Jeff for going the extra mile with your project, and for delivering such a fantastic feature. We all look forward to seeing the boat in full bloom!

She is designed and equipped for families, or groups of friends, with a seriously ill or disabled member to hire for holidays on a weekly basis. She sleeps a maximum of six people (see plan) and can take a manual wheelchair (not electric) She has:

1. Two toilets and one shower.
2. Two hydraulic lifts for easy access to front and rear decks.
3. A First Aid case is provided and there is a telephone for emergencies only.
4. A galley, fully equipped with cooker, fridge, sink unit, cupboards and all necessary utensils, cutlery, crockery etc.
5. A television/DVD player and a radio cassette player are provided.
6. Side hatches can be opened for sunny days. The forward and rear decks are large and easily accessible to wheelchairs, and there is an awning over the foredeck. The forward cabin windows are at low-level for easy viewing.
7. The cabin floor is fully carpeted to provide a non-slip and warm surface, with radiators throughout for central heating when required.
8. Six beds are provided, but the use of the berths depends on the mix of passengers and the disability – please see the plan. Each bed has its own reading light. Bedding is provided and consists of under-blanket, bottom sheet, continental quilt and cover, two pillows and pillowcases, plus an adequate supply of rubber sheets. Towels are also provided. Please bring any extra bedding – draw-sheets, blankets etc. – if required.
9. Life jackets/buoyancy aids are provided for all passengers.
10. Regrettably we cannot allow pets, due to allergies suffered by some passengers. No smoking is allowed, other than on deck.
11. Electricity supply is 12v. There is also a 150v invertor for providing 240v direct from the boat’s batteries, but there is no facility for charging electric wheelchairs.

Booking Form and Conditions

• Melody Booking Form (pdf)
• Plan of Melody (pdf)