Floating advice centre bid sets sail

Published on Saturday 15 November 2008 10:04

Louis Pilard, a 16-year-old pupil of Currie Community High School, and winner of our Cub Reporters Competition, writes on plans by a barge company to engage the community on the canalside

A FLOATING advice centre for people with debt problems caused by the credit crunch is among plans being lined up for a lottery-funded canal boat.

Re-Union Canal Boats' general manager, Pat Bowie, highlighted the idea at the launch of a new 60ft barge on the Union Canal recently.

Currently funded by the Big Lottery and EDI, Re-Union aims to become independent from the funding it relies on to keep the company afloat. To achieve this, it is considering diverse plans to expand its income over the next three years.

"We've not achieved everything we had aimed for," said Pat. "We have great plans for the future."

The credit crunch has created tension among many businesses throughout Edinburgh and could potentially stunt Re-Union's economic growth.

"Because we're aiming for corporate clients, that's the budget that will be cut, so the community at Edinburgh Quay may not be as thriving as we would hope to be in the long-term plan."

However, Pat believes that Re-Union can rise to the challenge and help the situation in the west of Edinburgh. "We could provide a floating advice centre for debt problems," she said.

Re-Union is dedicated to creating a thriving community around the Union Canal area through Wester Hailes and Ratho and helping the unemployed and people with mental health problems gain skills and confidence through volunteer work. The money allowing this development comes from outings on the barge booked by companies for staff outings and conferences.

"We've had business meetings, team building sessions for companies like HBOS, a record launch, eight primary schools for environmental education trips, a 65th birthday party and a hen afternoon!" she said.

"On average we bring in another 65 people a week into the Edinburgh Quay."

But this is still a far cry from the 100 people a day which they aim to bring in over the next three years.

The three-year plan will touch on many new issues other than unemployment, hoping to involve artistic, environmental and sporting activities in the community to bring more people to the attraction and raise awareness on the surrounding economical and environmental problems of the area.

"We're going to start a walking group and organise fishing competitions for youngsters. We're hoping to plant an orchard in a nearby piece of land. We want to involve more schools, introducing them to water-safety, telling stories about the canal so it becomes part of their heritage, why they shouldn't graffiti, why they shouldn't dump, what impact it can have on the environment that they live in."