Young adults get chance to learn traditional boating skills

New Trust launched in memory of boating enthusiast Roger Lorenz

A new Trust, which will offer young adults between the ages of 18-30 the opportunity to learn traditional boating skills, will be launched at the Stratford River Festival on 5^th/6th July.

The Roger Lorenz Trust has been set up in memory of Roger who lived in Worsley and was a boat enthusiast for over 40 years.  His wife Stef is passionate about keeping her late husband’s love of canals and boating alive:

“This is a project that would have been very dear to Roger’s heart” she said. There are so many ex-working boats in this country, owned by people in their 50s and 60s, but very few young people have the appropriate skills to maintain and steer them, so there will be fewer people able to continue the tradition.”

Roger had a long history of involvement on the canals, as a surveyor and a member of various waterway related  committees. 

His original broad-beamed boat, Neptune, will be used by the Trust to provide training opportunities to learn about steering, mooring and maintenance of a vintage diesel engine.  The courses, which the Trust hopes to begin in May 2014, will run from Friday teatime to Sunday evening and will include talks about the history of the canal network.  Participants will live on the boat and the courses will be taught by experienced boaters and boat owners.  The total cost of £50 includes all meals and accommodation and Neptune is currently based at Wyre Boat Club near Evesham.

Neptune, which was built in 1963, has travelled on the waterways across England, Wales and Scotland and was the first barge on the Royal Canal in Ireland.  It is an ex British Waterways working boat and was the largest boat to travel up the Lancaster canal after its restoration.  The Trust is hoping to offer several different modules an, in time, an NVQ qualification to participants on its courses.

The Trust is currently seeking donations to support its work and to enable it to register as a charity. To find out more about the courses on offer, or how to donate, please contact Stef Lorenz on 0161 7070 588 or mobile 07825 447 029 or write to her at 34 Algernon Street, Monton, Eccles, M30 9QA.

ENDS

For further press information contact Stef Lorenz on 0161 7070 588 or mobile 07825 447 029

Editors’ notes:

Roger Lorenz, who died in April 2013, was committed to canals since his days at Birmingham University, where he studyied industrial metallurgy and spent one summer holiday working on commercial boats.  He had a long history of involvement in the canals as a surveyor, committee member for the Inland Waterways Association and the Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association, and was a founder member of the Heritage Boat Association in Ireland.  Roger’s background was as a secondary teacher and college lecturer (craft, design and technology) and he was always very committed to teaching and mentoring young people.  His boat Neptune has been around Bristol docks, up the Lancaster Canal and through the Falkirk Wheel.

The Roger Lorenz Trust has attracted trustees from the Canal and River Trust and the Inland Waterways Association and is currently looking for a Patron to support its work.  It is also trying to raise £5,000 to enable its registration as a Cha