THE PENSIONERS BOAT PROJECT
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A MILLION PENSIONERS = £1 MILLION !
Dedicated to London's Senior Citizens
WHY NOT A PENSIONERS BOAT CLUB ?
Hello...to the Pensioners of LONDON...
In 1994 a Voluntary Group of Pensioners joined with other London Community Groups to campaign for a Pensioners Boat to provide almost 3/4 of a million London Pensioners with regular river trips. most recalled enjoyable trips on paddle steamers to Southend and back, and it was hoped that a 200 seater Boat designed with special facilities for the elderly and disabled would be built.
The Constitution of the 'Pensioners Boat Project' set up by LT commander Len Crickmar RN a time-served Waterman, helped by Ian Sharpe and John Bauer, was overseen by the 'Docklands Forum', now known as the 'London Thames Gateway Forum', whose Membership consists of many voluntary sector London Community Groups.
The 'Pensioners Boat Project' hired the ex-Dunkirk vessel 'Kingwood' to commemorate VE Day and show how much Pensioners enjoyed the river, (click below to see photos) many hundreds were turned away, unable to get on-board, due to demand, and extra trips had to be run, the event, strongly supported by a majority of London Borough Leaders, the Corporation of London, many Trusts, The London Rivers Association', 'Age Concern', 'The London Pensioners Association', News International, Virgin Group, The Bridge House Trust, and the 'Docklands Forum' (now known as 'London Thames Gateway Forum'), was a total success.
Gary Beckwith of 'City cruises', based in Rotherhithe and one of London's leading Thames Boat Companies had offered existing plans to build a Boat with special provision for the elderly and disabled, he and the Corporation of London joined Docklands Forum as signatories on the application for funding to the Lottery Commission but the Millennium Board surprisingly turned it down at the time even though it was shown that income derived from the River-boat would be substantial, and could also help to supplement Pension Funds.
In 1995 Richard Branson showed his support for 'The Pensioners Boat Project' when he sent free crates of Vodka for their VE Day celebration trips, there are many who still believe in Richard to provide their dream boat, a state of the art boat with all modern facilities to cater to different needs, permanently moored, safe and secure by Masthouse Terrace, Isle of Dogs, right in the heart of Olympic East London.
Permanently mooring a state of the art boat on the Isle of Dogs would help the environment as it would not be burning fuel, its focus would be a great attraction for Londoners and visitors alike, serving all groups with on-board facilities and modern technology. It could also encourage people to join various boat club activities aboard, e.g a Pensioners Club (at a £1 each, could be worth £3/4 million right away), a Jazz Club, Music events, Video Club, etc., it would be a 24/7 business throughout the year. encouraging more people down to enjoy the riverside and also make use of existing commercial boats to travel on to Greenwich, the Tower of London, Westminster, etc.
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