Towpath Team Volunteer (Leeds Towpath Team)

Do you fancy joining us and working as part of a team to look after your local canal and river systems? You'll always be volunteering in a team in the great outdoors. You could be planting, painting, doing vegetation management to litter picking and tackling notifications around the locks. This includes general lock maintenance, greasing the mechanics and reporting back on any safety hazards. All of these contributions make a huge difference to the trust, the team and the local communities where we are based.

The Leeds towpath team cover from Newlay Locks in Kirkstall, all the way down to River lock in Granary Wharfe. Most often we meet at Office Lock and move from there. It is quite the stretch so the more volunteers available to help the more we can do. We can also begin to plan projects in the area such as what we did with Pocket park, located a few hundred metres up from Office Lock. It would be great to introduce more areas like this for the local community. One task that will always be in need of attention is the litter picking, this can be done on foot, by canoe or pontoon!

This team meets on the fourth Friday of every month, with hopes of another session in the month to be developed in summer.

It's a great chance to meet new people and learn about how we look after the canals and rivers. You have the opportunity to learn new skills and pick up on free training modules throughout the year. Joining this team will also improve your environmental management skills and give chance for you to learn about the native wildlife and how we can protect it. These teams are always led by one of our colleagues or Lead Volunteers who make sure that you have the best time, are kitted out with PPE and provide knowledge so you can help care for the local waterways to a high standard.