What do I stand for?

I have been living on my narrowboat Stellar for six years and have had the pleasure of exploring many of the UK's canals. Our waterways offer a unique opportunity to travel and live in a different way and I want to protect this way of life for everyone.

I believe this means keeping the navigation open and in good condition, and challenging the reduction of Trust staff with the knowledge and experience needed to maintain the waterways. 

It means taking steps to reduce crime on the towpath (taking inspiration from London's Canal Watch initiative) and increasing the quantity and quality of boaters' facilities.

It means cherishing our heritage by keeping the canals a living environment. A home, not a museum.

I'm an active member of the community, chairing the NBTA London branch in 2018 and volunteering as a caseworker. As chair, I helped set up the Lea Boaters Collective, a coalition of local organisations who came together to hold the EA and the Trust to account following their slow response to a large oil spill on the River Lea. Too often liveaboard boaters are painted as a nuisance, uncaring of our environment but this showed that the opposite is true. We care for the canals and rivers, we go out and clean up because this is our garden and when it gets damaged we fight to protect it. These are the stories I want CRT, and others on the Council, to hear. 

If I am elected to the Council I will bring this experience of successful cooperation, representing all boaters and working to improve, renew and restore our waterways.