Social Inclusion

Inland Waterways have an important role to play in a community's health, wellbeing, and education.

We want to attract greater participation and involvement in our waterways by people who may feel excluded from them, for example people on low incomes, people with disabilities, older people and minority ethnic communities.

We are already engaged in many successful projects for improving the quality of life for people and communities close to our waterways. We do this in partnership with a wide range of national and local organisations including Groundwork UK, the Fieldfare Trust, local authorities and charitable bodies. Our document Waterways for People shows examples of our work.

Our aims are to:

• make sure that everyone in society has the chance to enjoy waterways that are attractive, safe and accessible
  
• see the waterways used as an asset and resource by groups and organisations working to overcome the different barriers that lead to social exclusion

Access for All
Designed with a horse in mind, rather than a buggy or wheelchair, towpaths are not always easy places to reach or travel along. However, towpaths are usually wide and flat, so can be ideal places for people to exercise or explore the environment.

We are continuing to improve the waterways to make them more accessible for people with disabilities.

BW Disability Equality Scheme (151KB RTF)
We are continuing to improve the waterways to make them more accessible for people with disabilities. We published our Disability Equality Scheme on 4 December 2006.

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