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The Association has 11 regions and 36 branches in all parts of England and Wales. In addition, it has hundreds of corporate members, many of which are local waterway societies. These societies have the wellbeing of their local waterways at heart, while IWA campaigns at a national or regional level on issues that affect all waterways.
Hundreds of miles of formerly derelict waterways are currently being restored and many more are proposed for restoration and reopening to navigation. In many cases the restoration is being led by a local waterway society, supported by IWA and its subsidiary, Waterway Recovery Group, which is the national co-ordinating body for voluntary labour on waterway restoration. In other cases the society is a member of a partnership of bodies which might include the local authorities, the navigation authority, The Waterways Trust and the local wildlife trust.
But there are other equally important waterway societies that are not involved in restoring derelict waterways - and they too would welcome your support.
Some waterways have already been restored; some were saved from the threat of closure; others have never been under any threat. But there still exists a role for a local waterway society, to promote the improvement, good maintenance and wider use of the waterway, to represent its users, and to help to safeguard its surviving heritage.
Other waterway societies see their function as being to preserve and record the surviving remains of those derelict canals that are not currently planned for full-scale reopening.
And in recent years a new type of waterway society has made its first appearance: those which promote the construction of brand-new waterways, or the completion of those that were begun but never finished.
All societies welcome new members, whether they are offering professional expertise of value to the societies - in fields such as accountancy, funding, promotion, engineering or planning - or practical skills valuable in restoration work, or simply for their financial contribution as an ‘armchair supporter’.
If you would like to know more about any of these groups - and particularly if you would like to join them and support their work - please visit their web site via our links page.
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