The new charity set up to manage waterways in England and Wales will be called the Canal and River Trust.

Design agency Pentagram provided pro bono consultancy to devise the name, logo and branding and undertook “extensive public and internal consultation and market research” to arrive at the result.  Pentagram also created the British Waterways logo in the 1980s.

Chair of trustees Tony Hales said: “People have told us that the waterways are important to them as a local haven, for themselves and for nature.  Stepping onto a towpath is like entering a different world, where the stress of daily life can be escaped.  The Canal and River Trust represent what our waterways mean to so many people.”

To minimise the cost of rolling out the new brand, the Trust will work with individual waterways organisation to plan a phased change to signage and may provide a ‘signing kit’ for local groups.

The Canal and River Trust will launch in April next year and will be responsible for 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales. The British Waterways brand will carry on in Scotland, where the waterways currently managed by British Waterways Scotland will remain in the public sector and will not form part of the Canal and River Trust.

Progress report

The trustees of the charity have this week also published their first report on what they have acheived since joining the board in May.

The report sets out the trustees' thinking on membership, governance, funding, and management and states their belief that the funding contract from Defra will be a key to the charity's success. They say they are hopeful that they can agree a viable arrangement before the end of the year.

The board also made clear that the Trust should not become a "shadow statutory organisation" with only the outward appearance of a charity, but must operate "freely, openly and on a level playing field with all other organisations in the charitable sector".