DEDICATED volunteers with the Canal and River Trust, who help clean up the Worcester and Birmingham Canal are to soon take delivery of a new work boat.

This follows a successful fundraising appeal that topped £23,000.

Donations from the public, the Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership and £16,500 from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery helped to secure the second-hand boat, which is now being restored in Tardebigge Yard.

The work boat will be used solely by volunteers, who will clean up litter, remove graffiti, cut back trees and bushes along the canal and create new habitats for wildlife.

The boat will provide a warm, dry place for the volunteers to work from, as well as enabling them to reach parts of the canal that they can’t currently access from the towpath.

Hull repairs, painting and motor work will be completed in the coming months, with the aim of getting the boat on the water in the new year.

Once the boat is ready for action, the Trust aims to run a competition with local schools to find a name for it.

Ed Helps, from the Canal and River Trust’s South Wales and Severn waterway partnership, who himself raised over £6,000 via two sponsored bike rides, said: “It’s great to have raised the money for the boat, a big thanks go to all those who supported the appeal, particularly the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

"It’ll enable us to do things we haven’t previously been able to do. We’re going to train volunteers to skipper the boat and encourage local schools and community groups to participate in clean-up sessions, for example.

"The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is fantastic, volunteers do so much to ensure it continues to thrive, so we are delighted to be able to provide them with even more support.”