Basingstoke Canal fundraisers have hit the target for a new electric boat.
After two years' work, the funds are now in place to order the canal society’s new vessel.
The last £75,000 of investment needed came from a successful Your Fund Surrey grant application.
More than £165,000 has been raised, and in addition to Surrey County Council's Your Fund Surrey grant, the society has achieved this also through the generosity of Woking residents.
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The Basingstoke Canal Society wants to thank the many individual contributors who have made this possible in addition to the £75,000 from Your Fund Surrey.
The Shanley Foundation and the Syder Foundation awarded grants, and many locally based businesses also supported with corporate donations from Waitrose, Lansbury Estates, AECOM, The Ion Group, Tim and Liz Dodswell and SC Johnson. This is in addition to generous legacies from the estates of Joyce Keep and Peter Harman.
Many artists also donated paintings for auction as well as the Basingstoke Canal Authority who donated the remaining paintings of Nancy Larcombe.
Surrey County Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities and Community Safety Councillor Denise Turner-Stewart said: “We are thrilled that Basingstoke Canal Society has been successful in their application to Your Fund Surrey for a grant towards a new electric trip boat.
"Making the Surrey countryside, including our waterways, accessible to everyone has huge benefits to our residents' wellbeing, so we are delighted the new boat is more suitable for wheelchair users. Using an electric boat will also help with Surrey’s goal to be a carbon net zero county by 2050. This is a fantastic project and I look forward to seeing the boat out on the canal.”
The Basingstoke Canal Society chairman Ian Moore said: “Huge thanks go to Gren Gale and the Fundraising Team, in particular, Diane Sanderson for leading our submission to Your Fund Surrey."
The grant will help the society replace its ageing diesel-powered trip boat Kitty based in Woking. By replacing a fossil-fuelled trip boat with an all-electric one, it will reduce the annual carbon emissions by an estimated 3.5 tonnes, helping meet the Climate Emergency goals set out by both central Government and the county council.
The trip boat Kitty carries nearly 2,000 passengers a year, and raises many thousands of pounds that go straight back into helping to maintain the canal, that once ran into Basingstoke town, ending in a basin at Eastrop. It currently ends at Greywell. Semi-derelict by the 1960s, the canal was officially reopened in 1991.
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Brayzel Narrowboats will be building the new Kitty trip boat and we hope to have the new boat in the water for next spring.
The society will install charging points to kick-start the electrification of the Basingstoke Canal. The work will include installing three charging points, one of which will be dedicated to Kitty and the other two open for public use.
The Basingstoke Canal is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) so it’s particularly important to protect its environment with this new ‘greener’ trip boat and charging points for other boaters too.
The new electric Kitty will also be designed to be better adapted for wheelchair use and have better facilities for all users.
To find out more about The Basingstoke Canal Society or to become a member, please visit www.basingstoke-canal.org.uk
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