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Lobby your new MP

Lobby your new MP and encourage them to secure funding for canals and rivers in your local area.

Please write to your new MP

The waterways are valuable assets to our country but ongoing funding is critical if we are to protect them, as highlighted by the Fund Britain’s Waterways campaign.

With your help, our waterways may stand a chance of securing the investment they need. This is why, now that our new MPs have been elected, we encourage all waterways supporters to write to their Parliamentary representative about the importance of waterways funding.

All  candidates were sent a copy of our Election Statement and Fund Britain’s Waterways issued a Press Release ahead of the 4th July General Election. We will shortly be contacting all newly elected MPs, but a letter from a local constituent carries much more weight than from a national office.  To assist you in writing to your MP,  you can find details of your MP here.  Our Parliamentary Directory, which shows which waterways are in each parliamentary constituency has been updated – see link below.  You can also see the full geographic area covered by your MP’s constituency here.

 

Example Letters

Example Letter for Constituencies with CRT Waterways

You can use this template if your local waterways are managed by CRT

(37.5KB)

Download

Example Letter for non- CRT Waterways

You can use this template if your local waterways are managed by authorities other than CRT, or adapt it if you prefer.

(37.5KB)

Download

Useful Resources

IWA General Election Statement (updated June 2024)

(23.71KB)

Download

12 Benefits of the Waterways

(90.54KB)

Download

Waterways for Today Report

Click here to download a PDF copy.

Printed copies can be purchased from our online shop here.

Parliamentary Directory

Updated following the 2024 General Election.

(62.82KB)

Download

Waterways & Wellbeing: Valuing our Waterways

A report produced by the Canal & River Trust in November 2022.

Click here to download a PDF copy.

The Parliamentary Directory

The IWA Directory of Parliamentary Constituencies with Waterways is a useful resource aimed at helping waterway campaigners in engaging with MPs across all waterways in England, Scotland and Wales. It has ben updated following the 2024 General Election and includes e-mail addresses for MPs.

The directory lists those Westminster, Scottish and Welsh parliamentary constituencies which have inland waterways within their boundaries, in England, Wales and Scotland, including those open to navigation, those under restoration and some of those which remain derelict. The current elected member for each constituency is shown, along with their political party. The database is fully searchable by MP name, constituency, e-mail address and waterway(s) covered, enabling you to work out which MPs you need to contact for any particular stretch of waterway. This directory works well in combination with our Waterway Directory.

Full contact details for the relevant MPs can be obtained on the UK Government website.

 

How you can help

Subscribe to campaign updates

Register to receive regular updates about the #FundBritainsWaterways campaign via email, or contact [email protected] for more information.

Submit your photos

Share photos with us highlighting the state of the waterways by emailing them to [email protected]