One of the things I love about following a campaign cruise is watching the flotilla swell as it goes. Day two of Fund Britain’s Waterways’ ‘Navigating for Change’ cruise on the Great Ouse brought exactly that kind of update.

A growing fleet at St Ives

Boater Mike Starnes shared a cheerful progress report from the water: the cruise had reached St Ives, with the fleet expanding to two narrowboats, two cruisers, three Wilderness trailer boats and an immaculate Thames-built traditional craft. It’s a wonderfully mixed line-up, and that’s rather the point — when this many different kinds of boat turn out together, flying their banners along the Great Ouse, it becomes a proper visual statement about how many people care about these waterways. The post appeared in the Fund Britain’s Waterways Facebook group, which is always worth a look while the cruise is on.

What the campaign is all about

Fund Britain’s Waterways is a coalition speaking up for the hundreds of thousands of people who use and love Britain’s canals and rivers. Cruises like this one aren’t just a good day out; they’re a way of showing decision-makers that our waterways are alive with people, and that they need sustainable, long-term government funding to stay open. Locks silt up, banks fail and channels close when the money runs short — and every gathering of boats like the one at St Ives is a reminder of everything that stands to be lost.

If you’d like to help keep waterways like the Great Ouse open for everyone, please sign the petition at change.org/p/fundbritainswaterways and share it with #FundBritainsWaterways.