Pinkston takes a step forwards with the Accessibility Pontoon

It doesn’t take long to forget how things used to be. Thanks to GoogleEarth it is now easier. Before the accessibility pontoon accessing the basin always involved a step down onto a small grey pontoon, then manhandling your canoe and launching. This was challenging for fit and able paddlers but a major issue for many.

In April 2022 after a huge effort by our General Manager Hannah supported by the Scottish Canoe Association, funding was secured from Suez Communities Trust and SportScotland Facilities Fund to allow the purchase of a large accessibility pontoon with a wheelchair transfer station. Visits to sites in Scotland and viewing other examples online allowed a supplier to be chosen and a design finalized. The reality of being a Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent began to bite as we realized how hard getting permission from Historic Environment Scotland was going to be. Some innovative thinking to use the existing water treatment plant grills overcame what could have been a show stopper!

Installation day went smoothly with Pontoon and Dock and PDMarine doing a fantastic job – we can highly recommend them.

We must also thank The St Nicholas Care Fund who made an award of £2500 which allowed the purchase of a range of adaptive equipment. This funding was critical to allowing us to have the equipment to support inclusive paddling and was a great vote of confidence for our work and is hugely appreciated.