Held over the late May/Whitsun bank holiday weekend this year of Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th May 2026, The Crick Boat Show is the UK’s leading inland waterways festival, bringing together narrowboats, marine exhibitors, live entertainment, boating seminars and family attractions.

And here’s are just a few good reasons why you should stop by and see the team from LNBP over ‘the three-days of Crick’.

1. Book your ticket and join us on the Crick Boat Show trip boats

We will once again be operating the hugely-popular Trips Boats for visitors to the Show who can enjoy a short boat trip with us from the Marina and along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal aboard canal boats which are once again run by our volunteer team of skippers.

The half-hour trips are run and provided free, but we welcome donations in lieu, and will run every 10 minutes from 10.10am each day of the show.

As these trips always prove very popular year-on-year, our advice is to book with us once you arrive at the Show to avoid disappointment.

You will find us at Stand Q50 by the quayside where you can up pick your tickets from our team who can tell you more about we can do and offer.

2. Donate to support us and benefit others

As mentioned above, the boat trips we run on behalf of the Crick Boat Show are provided to the Show’s visitors FREE of charge.

However LNBP do accept donations in lieu.

This is enable us as a non-proft volunteer-led charity to continue our work in the community and provide opportunities for those less than fortunate to enjoy a trip on our boats on the canals and inland waterway networks of central England

You can make donations either by cash in the collection buckets that will be on the boats and by our Booking Tent, by card via our card payment terminal, or scan the QR code on the posters on the trip boats or at the Booking Tent to make a donation payment  via our website (which you can also do here)

3. Find out more about short break residential trips for your community group or organisation

Members of our team will be on hand throughout the weekend to tell you more about the opportunities we can provide to community groups and organisations on our boats. 

Whether it be short break residential of two or more nights at weekends or during the week, or a day trip as part of the limited number of inexpensive day trips we also provide from Braunston, talk to us about your group and how we can help create memories and an experience that will stay with your group members for years to come.

Why not even make an enquiry for your community group or organisation for 2027 or 2028?

4. Ask about volunteering with us

LNBP Community Boating is reliant on the efforts of volunteers who give their time to ensure the smooth running of the organisation and the canal boat experiences we provide.

And we are always keen to welcome new volunteers to our organisation, so if you are 16 years old and over, why not consider getting involved?

There are many ways you can get involved, and many benefits for individuals who volunteer with us, so talk to a member of our team (themselves, all volunteers) on how you can get involved; even if it is just for an hour or two here and there.

You can also find out more here

5. Find out and register for CCBM training

We are also also an accredited Training Centre for the Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM) and run several training weeks a year.

Administered by the National Community Boats Association (NCBA) of which LNBP Community Boating is a member, the CCBM course is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of people operating boats carrying groups of twelve passengers or less. It is

It is aimed at boat users in the voluntary or public sectors, but the scheme is also open to all group leaders using commercial hirecraft. Many organisations require the CCBM as a prerequisite for group leaders who are planning to self-steer.

For more information, talk to a member of our team and our Project Skippers who will be at the Show and running the trip boats. Why not even register your interest for our next CCBM Training event too.

As always,  we welcome any enquiries from all Show Visitors and are only too happy to answer any questions you may have.

So please don’t be afraid to pop by our Stand or ask a member of our team on the trip boats. You won’t miss us – we will have our distinctive blue polo shirts and sweat shirts on (and hopefully won’t need raincoats and umbrellas).

We look forward to seeing and meeting you at Crick.

The post Great reasons to see LNBP Community Boating at the 2026 Crick Boat Show appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

As an accredited CCBM (Certificate in Community Boat Management) Training Centre, LNBP run a number of training weeks each year for prospective candidates with demand always high to join us and complete the course.

This latest course was once again another successful few days of training with all of the candidates successfully passing the course after several days out on the Oxford and Grand Union canal network in and around Braunston.

And even the weather was kind to our trainers Mike, Paul and Russ and their trainees!

The pictures below give you a flavour from last week.

Many thanks to everyone who attended and made it a highly successful and enjoyable week.

And sincere thanks to Mike, Paul and Russ for giving their time and running the course, and to Russ for the photos who could possibly have a new job in photography if ever he needed or fancied one.

• To find out more about LNBP’s CCBM courses and future dates including to register your interest for our next courses, email Mike at training@lnbp.co.uk

The post In pictures: CCBM Training Week: Spring 2026 appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

Held over the Easter school holidays, these now-annual day trips are an extension of our regular weekend and midweek residential trips, designed to provide a fun introduction for youngsters to our local canals in and around Braunston alongside the ever-popular theme of pirates.

For this trip we had the pleasure of the company of members of Rhythmic Expressions Dance Academy based in Daventry who really got into character for what was another very successful and highly enjoyable trip as you can see from the pictures below.

Many thanks to ‘Purple Pirate’ Denise and her Captain Paul from LNBP for managing the trip and keeping the crew in order and waterways safe!

And thank you also to Chirelle and everyone at Rhythmic Expressions Dance Academy for coming along and really getting into the spirit of the day. It was an absolute pleasure to have you, and we hope to see you again soon.

• For more details about future Pirate Days with LNBP and how you can get your children’s centre or youth and community group involved, email us at marketing@lnbp.co.uk.

The post In pictures – Pirate Days 2026 appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

Once again our team will be at the ever-popular Show for what promises to be another busy Whitsun weekend.

Organised by Waterways World in partnership with the Canal & River Trust and Crick Marina, the three-day Show offers a great day out by the water for all the family and showcases 300 exhibitors from across the canal and inland waterways industry.

Held at Crick Marina in Northamptonshire, this year’s Show will once again be held over the late May [Whitsun] bank holiday weekend which for this year is across Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday 25th May 2026.

Once again there will be a Trade and Preview Day 24 hours before on Friday 22nd May when all boats and Quayside stands and much of the Show Village and Boating Marquee will be open to trade visitors and to Preview Day ticket holders.

Among the wide variety of stalls and entertainment on offer during the three public days, there is opportunity to take a boat trip with us as we will once again be operating the hugely-popular Trips Boats. Visitors to the Show can enjoy a short boat trip with us from the Marina and along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union Canal aboard canal boats which are once again run by our volunteer team of skippers.

The half-hour trips are free, but we welcome and greatly appreciate donations in lieu, with trips running every 10 minutes from 10.10am each of the three days of the show.

As these trips always prove very popular, our advice is to book with us once you arrive at the Show. You will find us at Stand F0 by the quayside where you can up your tickets  from our team who can tell you more about we can do and offer, answer any questions and take enquiries for potential community group shrt break trips and longer holidays for 2027 (and 2028!)

For more information about the 2026 Crick Boat Show and to buy tickets in advance, go to their website HERE.

We look forward to seeing you at Crick.

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If you have been following our posts on our website and also across our social media channels of late, you will have seen the transformation from when we left Lancelot in the skillful and capable hands of our friends at Hillmorton Boat Services has been amazing to watch.

From this…

See more here

To this….

See more here

To this…

See more here

And now the work has been fully completed, two of our esteemed boat skippers Brian and Kevin collected Lancelot and steered her from Hillmorton ‘back home’ to our mooring base at Bottom Lock in Braunston.

Our sincere thanks to the team at Hillmorton Boat Services for undertaking this work for us. Lancelot looks amazing.

And soon it will be Guinevere’s turn too!

But not just yet; we have a busy season of bookings and eager boaters to look after between now and November!

• To check out Lancelot and Guinevere’s availability for 2026 and 2027 for your community group’s short break residential holiday or weekend, head to our online Booking Page here.

The post In pictures: Lancelot gets a new coat – complete and home again! appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

* And if are not around by the cut, you can of course find out more about us here on our website. 

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It comes on the back of our recent call and invite for new volunteers to get involved with us for 2026, which you can see here.

With the help of Rugby-based copywriter Karl Quinney who deals with all our press and media requirements and engagements, details subsequently sent to a range of local and regional media have so far yielded a great level of coverage and from it, a handful of interested enquiries.

Our story and coverage has been presented online and in print with the following:

• Daventry Express, here
• Northants Telegraph, here

• Northampton Chronicle and Echo, here
• Rugby Advertiser (Warwickshire World), here

Their coverages have also in turn extended to their social media pages of Facebook and X/Twitter where they again have also received great traction and engagement for both them and ourselves.

Thank you to all of those publications for their kind coverage and support. It is very much appreciated.

• For more details about volunteering with LNBP, contact our Chairperson Paul at chair@lnbp.co.uk to arrange a chat and see how you can be involved and how we can help you in return.

The post LNBP in the media appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

You will have hopefully seen our recent post showing the early stages of Lancelot being stripped down in the dry dock (if not, you can see pictures here)

Well, things have moved on and here’s the latest pictures from one of LNBP’s project skipper Kevin who along with colleague Brian paid a visit to our friends at Hillmorton Boat Services to see the great progress being made.

As you can see, great progress is being made and thanks to the team at HBS for really moving this on.

Look out for more pictures and a further update next week.

The post In pictures: Lancelot gets a new coat – progress update appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

Does a new year = a new challenge?

Or are you or someone you know looking to do something new and make a difference within your communty in 2026?

Or download our dedicated volunteering brochure by clicking the image below

Volunteer brochure

Interested?  Then why not get in touch and chat to us about what we can offer and how you can play your part.

Contact our Chairperson, Paul, via email at chair@lnbp.co.uk  or call us on 07783 002073.

The post Make a difference in 2026 by volunteering with LNBP appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.

A group from Bexley Targeted Youth Service joined us recently for a residential trip and kindly sent in these wonderful pictures from their time on our boats.

Thank you to Bexley Targeted Youth Service for sending in these pictures. It is great to see everyone enjoying themselves and had a great time.

We hope to see you again soon.

• If these pictures have interested you and you are considering ideas for your community group, why not get in touch to find out about what we can offer, where you can visit and what you can do on and with our boats.

• To find out more and discuss ideas and your group’s requirements including to check availability for 2026, call our Bookings Officer Nigel Smith on 07783 002073 or email us at bookings@lnbp.co.uk

The post In pictures: Bexley Targeted Youth Service’s residential trip appeared first on LNBP Community Boating.