Links to useful resources

Canalboat Hire Firms

This is definitely not an exhaustive list and it is absolutely not a recommendation for any of them as I have never hired but these are some of the more well-known hire companies whose boats I tend to see often when out cruising:

ABC Boat Hire (various locations)
Andersen Boats (Middlewich)
Anglo Welsh (various locations)
Beacon Park Boats (south Wales)
Black Prince (various locations)
Cruise England (Marlborough)
Drifters (various canal boat hire firms under one umbrella)
Kate Boats (Warwick)
Roam and Roost (a network of smaller, independent hire firms)
Union Canal Carriers (Braunston)
Wyvern Shipping Company (Milton Keynes)

Disability Boating Organisations

Charities and organisations who can offer the specially-equipped boats and trained staff to take less physically-able folk on the canals

Accessible Boating Association – “disabled people and those with mobility or socialising difficulties” (Basingstoke)
Baldwin Trust – “residents of rest and care homes, those with mobility and disability issues” (Leicester)
Bruce Trust – “Disabled, disadvantaged or elderly people” (Wilts & Berks)
CanalAbility – “disabilities and special needs” (Essex / Hertfordshire)
Ethel Trust – “community groups” (Doncaster)
Chesterfield Canal Trust – “wheelchair access” (Chesterfield)
Hargreaves Narrowboat Trust – “care homes and special needs groups” (Coventry)
Heulwen Trust – “vulnerable and less abled adults and children” (North Wales)
Lyneal Trust – “disabilities, illness or injury, or any other vulnerability” (Shropshire / North Wales)
Mary Sunley Canal Boat Trust – “social welfare” (Cheshire)
Nottingham Narrowboat Project – “all sections of our local community” (Nottinghamshire)
Pamela May Trust – “Care, Residential and Nursing Homes, Day Centres and Special Interest Groups” (Worcestershire)
Peter Le Marchant Trust – “any kind of disability or serious illness” (Leicestershire)
River Thames Boat Project – “those with a special need, disability or mental health condition” (South-West London)
Rivertime Boat Trust – “children and adults of varying abilities” (Thames Valley)
SCAD – “those with mobility problems” (North Yorks)
Seagull Trust – “people with special needs” (Scotland)
Somerset Boat Centre – “wheelchair accessible boat” (Somerset)
South Staffordshire Narrowboat Co – “the elderly, disabled & youth groups” (Wolverhampton)
Stockport Canalboat Trust – “disabled people and those with limited mobility” (Greater Manchester)
Swansea Community Boat Trust – “children, disabled people, older people and community groups” (South Wales)
Truman Enterprise Narrowboat Trust – “elderly, disabled, special needs or health issues” (Staffordshire)
Vale of Llangollen Canal Boat Trust – “disabled and disadvantaged” (North Wales)
Waterways Experiences – “the disadvantaged, teenagers with learning difficulties or other disadvantages” (Hertfordshire)
WCNT – “hospices, special schools, care homes and more” (Cheshire)
Wildside Activity Centre – “disabilities or special needs” (Wolverhampton)
Willow Trust – “disabled and seriously ill children and adults” (Gloucestershire)