Guest speaker John Lower at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Bolsover unfolded to a delighted audience how criminal gains were being used to finance investment in the Chesterfield Canal project.
The Chesterfield Canal Trust is to get a new tripboat-thanks to the proceeds of crime. Not the Trust’s own crimes, but money seized from convicted criminals, part of which is being put to good use through the Neighbourhoods Investing Criminal Earnings (NICE) scheme.
The John Varley, which carries members of the public on the restored Chesterfield end of the canal, is the oldest of the four CCT tripboats which raise funds for further canal restoration, and has been in service since 1992. A £20,850 NICE grant will pay for a new hull for a replacement boat, which the Trust will then fit out.
Rotary President Richard Drabble looked forward to the new addition to the canals fleet of boats and hoped that “the Rotary Club would organise a trip for the mariners and aspiring mariners within the club”. Richard also stated that while Rotary is behind investment for the area it did not mean that to be at any cost to our environment, he went on that “the high speed rail link could surely be accommodated without having a negative impact upon local peoples amenities”.