The Kennet and Avon Canal runs for 65km across the beautiful Wiltshire countryside and is the workplace and home of the Boating Community. We realised we knew very little about this seldom heard community. To begin to address this, the Public Health Team in September 2023 organised a canal walk and survey this saw 40 Council staff and partner agencies walking along the entire length of the canal in Wiltshire to engage in strengths-based conversations and launched the boater survey with those living and working on the canal to discover more about what they loved about life on the water and what they found challenging.
The following report details the survey results from the 218 boaters who responded; thank you to all of them for sharing the joys and trials of canal life. It reveals a diverse, resilient and vibrant community, and we hope you enjoy reviewing the results and learning more about Wiltshire’s boating population.