Community Projects
Lighting the way to a safer canal in Camden
In 2005 the Regent's Canal through Camden was the subject of a £250,000 community safety project, funded by British Waterways and the London Borough of Camden, in partnership with Camden Town Unlimited, the Metropolitan Police, Thames 21, Camden Town Street Warden Service, Camden Lock Market and other local businesses.
The safety measures followed feed-back and consultation with regular canal users, crime prevention advisors, local residents and the Metropolitan Police. They included specially designed lighting for a quarter-mile stretch of towpath and eight bridges, as well as graffiti cleaning, CCTV cameras, street wardens, increased patrolling of the canal by police, planting schemes, new signs at access points, fencing-off hidden corners and replacing walls with railings at access points.
The new bridge lighting was designed and installed by lighting specialists BPA Limited, with help for the centrepiece bridge at Hampstead Road from students at the Central St Martin's School of Art. The lights use subtle programmes of gradual movement and are strong enough to light the area safely and provide a clear image for the new CCTV cameras, without a harsh glare.
Each of the eight canal bridges, which stretch from Camden Street in the east to Gloucester Avenue in the west, have an individually tailored design. Light boxes installed by London Borough of Camden with designs by young people from Transition Youth Club, light up the next two bridges to the east, at Camden Road and Royal College Street.
The towpath lighting was designed by Equation Design and includes both wall-mounted and column fittings, as well as uplights for trees.
Canal Keepers
One of our most successful community projects to date has involved setting up a 'Canalkeepers' volunteer scheme. Run in partnership with Thames 21, we now have 40 local people working as Canalkeepers along London's canals, covering lengths from Harefield on the Grand Union, to Greenford on the Paddington Branch and Victoria Park on the Regent's Canal.
As well as providing a welcoming presence on the canal, Canalkeepers have helped boats through locks, cleared tonnes of rubbish, removed graffiti from signs, and liaised regularly with local police, park rangers and council workers, in many cases preventing or limiting offences. All volunteers have been issued with Canalkeeper clothing, making them easily recognisable, and have all been given a Canalkeeper's kit with whistle, simple first-aid materials and graffiti-cleaning equipment.
The scheme has received a very positive reaction from both visitors to the canal and other local residents.