Borderland Rotary entertained the Chairman of Lyneal Trust, Chris Symes the other day where he gave a very engaging talk about this canal-based charity which has been on the water since 1985 and helped over 20,000 people with special needs, enjoy holidays and trips on their narrowboats.

Chris explained that the charity, based between Ellesmere and Whitchurch on the Llangollen Canal, has two boats geared for weekly hire and one for day hire, all were purpose build to cater for people with special needs, disabled or wheelchair bound. The guests board the boats via a ramp and onto a lift which safely lowers, even larger wheel chairs, onto the cabin deck where everything is at hand. More recently, the trust developed the 19th century Wharf Cottage into accessible holiday accommodation so that even more people can enjoy the wonderful Shropshire countryside.

Chris said, “All the narrowboat crewing, the meet and greet and the general running of the trust is done by volunteers, like myself with only specialist tasks, for example, boat maintenance being done by specialist contractors. I’ve loved my time with the trust and am so pleased that Borderland Rotary is now supporting us.”

If you’d like more info about the work of Borderland Rotary go to www.borderlandrotary.org