account arrow-down arrow-left arrow-right closecontact-us emailFacebookheart instagramjoin linkedin phonepinterestplaysearch twitteryoutube

Volunteer Hub

Organising a lock wind

Lock Winds provide a way to raise funds and engage boaters and towpath-users, and can be used to promote IWA’s work, locally and nationally with a view to recruiting new members.  A ‘Lock Wind’ involves volunteers offering to operate a lock or flight of locks and asking boaters for voluntary donations in exchange, as well as engaging with other passers by.  A display or sales stand can also be set up, with sales goods, catering and/or IWA literature.

You don’t need to use the term ‘Lock Wind’, but the term ‘lock ransom’ is best avoided as it has been deemed ‘too negative’ and not in the spirit of giving donations for Gift Aid purposes.  You do not need to operate the locks if you do not want to.  Just set up your stand on the busy towpath at a lock or anywhere else where boaters have to stop and disembark from their boats, and find a good reason to engage with everyone who passes by.

Safety Note

The ‘take over’ of any lock or flight needs to not cause any offence or criticism from boaters and other visitors.  You should only be offering to operate the lock – never insist – and you need to maintain good humour and a smile throughout the day, whatever the circumstances.  Equally, make sure you do not create any nuisance to nearby residents, especially local businesses.  It is particularly important not to operate paddles until the boat steerer is ready and, of course, you must get written permission from the relevant navigation authority well in advance.

Tips

  1. Location – Popular and busy stretches of the waterways will generate more awareness but may also be more challenging to organise. Contact the relevant navigation authority or landowner(s) for permission. A location that you’ve done work on in the past would be a good place to hold the event as it provides the opportunity to showcase what you’ve done in the area.
  2. Size – Depending on the number of willing volunteers you have available, you may just want to focus on one lock, or you might want offer to assist boaters through several to cover a larger area. You may also want to set up stalls or a marquee promoting IWA activities and campaigns.
  3. Stalls and Displays – You may want to set up stalls selling goods or refreshments, or a marquee promoting work that has been carried out locally by the branch, or promoting IWA’s national activities and campaigns with a view to recruiting members. Any stands or stalls will require additional volunteers but could significantly add to the amount of money generated and/or new members recruited. It could also increase your upfront costs.
  4. Experience – When operating locks, ensure that someone with suitable experience is in charge of this and present at all times. 
  5. Budget – For substantial events, a budget may need to be considered. This could include:
    • Catering – Depending on how many hours the Lock Wind will be, food and drink may need to be provided for volunteers. A catering stand could be used to attract passers by to the event, or it could be a profit-making side line.  If serving alcohol, or hot food and drink between 11am and 5pm then you will need to contact your local council for a Temporary Events Notice. All the relevant information on this can be found here.
    • Entertainment – If you want to organise a larger event, you could consider some form of entertainment to attract people. If you are confident of passing trade and wish to make the Lock Wind into a larger event. If there is going to be entertainment then you will need to contact your local council for a Temporary Events Notice.
    • Equipment – Depending on the size and nature of the Lock Wind you may need to borrow or hire equipment such as a marquee/gazebo, stalls/stands, display boards, banners, life jackets, collection tins, bins and Portaloos.
  6. Insurance – IWA’s existing public liability insurance will cover this type of activity.
  7. Where to Publicise  – You will be relying on passing trade, but you could publicise the event as widely as possible beforehand if there is sufficient need to attract people:
    • Tell the local media by issuing a press release. 
    • At the event: Make sure the Lock Wind is clearly advertised so that people know what is going on should they pass the locks, and who they are being asked to give money to. PVC banners with eyelets can be printed fairly cheaply (£15-£30) and artwork can be put together by Head Office. Please contact Verena Leonardini for more information.
    • Upload the event to IWA events pages on IWA’s website
    • Use IWA social media pages. Head Office can help you promote your event online. Please contact Georgia Howe.
    • Email your branch members to promote the event and ask for volunteers to help out on the day. Branch emails should be sent via the Chesham office, who will have the most up to date addresses. Please contact Tracy Higgin.
  8. Risk Assessment – Create a plan of the day for the purpose of the risk assessment; simply state what you plan to do, things that could potentially go wrong and the relevant mitigations to reduce risk. You will also need to get permission from the landowners and relevant navigation authority. Please click here for more details on risk assessment and a downloadable risk assessment template. Get permissions in place before you start planning anything else in detail as getting the permissions in place can take some time and the event is unable to take place without them.
  9. Broadcast the Success – Broadcast the success of the Lock Wind.
    • Contact the local media by issuing a press release. 
    • Write an article on your branch page or for IWA Bulletin. Send with photos to [email protected].
    • Use photos for the branch magazine.
    • Post on IWA social media pages such as Facebook or Twitter. Contact the campaigns team at the Chesham office for help regarding these methods.
    • Tell your local branch members about your success and thank them for their support. 

Gift Aid Eligibility

To be eligible to make a Gift Aid declaration, a donor must be paying an amount in Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax, which is at least equal to the amount of tax IWA and any other charities to which they donate will reclaim, for each year they are in the scheme. VAT and Council Tax do not count.

Branches organising lock winds should be aware that if they are asking for a donation in order to help boaters through a lock, then this is not eligible for Gift Aid, as it is seen to be offering a service (even though it is not compulsory to pay in order to gain access).  On the other hand, general donations from passers-by would be eligible for Gift Aid to be claimed.