Every campaign runs on people, and few photographs capture that better than a smiling crowd behind a banner in the sunshine.

A big thank-you at Ellesmere Port

In the Fund Britain’s Waterways Facebook group, Shirley Sefton posted a warm message of thanks: “Many thanks to the Ellesmere Port Museum for supporting the FBW campaign.” Her photographs show a happy gathering of campaigners lined up at the lockside, holding the striking “Our canals & rivers are UNDER THREAT” banners — the ones urging support against government funding cuts and pointing people to fundbritainswaterways.org.uk. The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port has been the launch point for this year’s campaign cruise, so it’s fitting to see it giving the effort such a welcome. You can find the post on the Fund Britain’s Waterways Facebook group.

The strength of a coalition

Pictures like these are the campaign in a nutshell. Fund Britain’s Waterways is a coalition of over 160 organisations — museums, boating groups, charities and clubs among them — speaking up for the hundreds of thousands of people who use and love Britain’s canals and rivers. When a much-loved institution like the museum at Ellesmere Port lends its support, it adds real weight to the campaign’s central message: that our waterways need sustainable, long-term government funding if they’re to be kept open and thriving for future generations.

You can add your name to that show of support in a moment. Please sign the petition and help spread the word using #FundBritainsWaterways.