The National Community Boats Association (NCBA) is a waterway society, registered charity No. 1108993 and limited company No. 5331820, in the United Kingdom.

NCBA supports community boat projects and encourages more people to access the inland waterways of the UK. Its headquarters are at the Yorkshire Waterways Museum in Goole. The NCBA National Conference is held towards the end of 2008.

Member organisations

The association has over 100 member community boat projects, all over the UK.

Organisations which are members of the National Community Boats Association operate boats which are specially designed and equipped to cater for people with disabilities, with learning difficulties and learning disabilities, disadvantaged groups, people with special needs, people of all ages.

These organisations carry an estimated 250,000 passengers per year from the above mentioned groups.

Membership List (not complete)

• Accessible Boating Association, Hampshire
• Adam's Ark Project, Doncaster
• Angel Community Boat Trust, London
• Baldwin Boat Trust, Leicester
• BDN Guide Counties Narrowboat, Birmingham, West Midlands
• Beauchamp Lodge Settlement, London
• Birmingham City Council Youth Service Division
• Bradford Out & About Barge Association, West Yorkshire
• Brent Play Association, Wembley
• Bromley Youth Trust, Kent
• Camden Canals & Narrowboat Association
• Canal Boat Adventure Project, Cheshire
• Care Afloat, Skelmersdale, Lancashire
• Children's Activity & Recreational Projects, Wolverhampton
• Dacorum Narrowboat Project, Hertfordshire
• East Manchester Community Boat Project, Hyde
• Ethel Trust Community Barge, Sheffield
• Gloucestershire Disabled Afloat Riverboats Trust
• Hampshire County Council Youth Services
• Heulwen Trust, Welshpool
• Hillingdon Narrowboats Association, Middlesex
• Kensington Foundation, Blackpool
• Laburnum Boat Club, Hackney's Community Boating Project
• London Narrow Boat Project, Luton, Bedfordshire
• Maypole Community Boat Projects, Birmingham
• Mosaic, Shaping Disability Services, Leicester
• Nottingham Narrowboat Project
• Open Lock Project
• Oxfordshire Narrowboat Trust
• Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People, Leatherhead, Surrey
• Reach Out Projects, Hertfordshire
• Re-Union, Edinburgh
• River Thames Boat Project, Kingston-upon-Thames
• Rivertime Boat Trust (RBT), Maidenhead, Berkshire
• Safe Anchor Trust, Liversedge, West Yorkshire
• South Staffs Narrowboats, Wolverhampton
• South West Herts Narrowboat Project, Hertfordshire
• St Andrew's Methodist Youth Centre, Bristol
• St John Ambulance, Northampton, and Nottinghamshire
• Stockport Canal Boat Project
• Surrey County Council Outdorr Learning & Development, Surrey
• Swansea Community Boat
• Thames & Kennet Narrowboat Trust, Wokingham, Berkshire
• The Bruce Charitable Trust, Hungerford
• The Bruce Wake Charity, Rutland
• The Canal Boat Project, Hertfordshire, and Harlow, Essex
• The Kingfisher Medway Trust, Faversham, Kent
• The Lyneal Trust, Shrewsbury
• The Pirate Club, London
• The Seagull Trust, Ratho, Edinburgh
• The Sobriety Project, Goole, East Yorkshire
• The Wharf Narrowboat, Walsall
• The Willow Trust, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
• Tideway Adventurers Narrowboat Project, London
• Top Lock Training, Stockport
• Truman Enterprise Narrowboat Trust, Walsall
• Unity Enterprise, Govan, Scotland
• Vale of Llangollen Canal Boat Trust, Llangollen, Clwyd, Wales
• Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs
• Waterstart, Goole
• Waveney Stardust, Lowestoft, Suffolk
• Wildside Activity Centre, Wolverhampton
• Wirral Community Narrowboat Trust, Ellesmere Port
• Wooden Canal Boat Society

Training for community boat operators

NCBA also delivers training for the management of community boats.

The Certificate in Community Boat Management is a nationally accredited course for helmsmen and crew members working with the young, the elderly, the disadvantaged or handicapped.

Other courses: Basic Boat Handling; Complete Crew Course; Regional Training Moderator; Senior Trainer; CCBM Training Endorsement; and Additional Course Units.

• National Community Boats Association Certificate in Community Boat Management, Course outline
• Report on the Certificate of Community Boat Management

Work with offenders and young persons

NCBA is operating two special projects:

• Y-AFLOAT - Involving young people in community boating
• Prisons Project - facilitating the reunion of offenders with their families

The UK Government's Department of Education and Skills awarded the National Community Boats Association an NVYO grant of £ 123,990 for youth work.

See also

• List of waterway societies in the United Kingdom

External links

• BBC NEWS, 8 October 2004, report on NCBA's Glide Project, combatting "passive apartheid" and encouraging members of ethnic minorites to enjoy the waterways
• EUROPEAN UNION - NCBA a Partner in the EU's 'Eureauweb' Project, part of the European Waterways Tourism Development Service
• UK Govt. Dept. of Education and Skills: £123,990 Grant for youth work, for NCBA
• British Waterways Advisory Forum - consultation with National Community Boats Association et al
• British Waterways' own site: listing for National Community Boats Association
• British Waterways' "Waterscape" leisure website, listing of National Community Boats Association
• Hertfordshire County Council, The Harlow Canal Boat Project, affiliation to NCBA
• Re-Union Canal Boats, a Social Enterprise, trains its members through NCBA training courses
• ACCT's skipper is Approved Trainer for the Community Boat Management qualifications from NCBA
• National Community Boats Association Certificate in Community Boat Management, Course outline
• National Community Boat Association's website
• National Community Boats Association Newsletter, Autumn 2007