Wooden Spoon Classroom Boat
Wooden Spoon is the Children's Charity for Rugby which sponsored a classroom boat project for the Forth and Clyde/Union Canals.
Seagull Trust Cruises set up a subsidiary "Seagull Trust Enterprises". The idea was that the barge would be available for schools to use for Canal related studies. It would also be available to hire for cooperate events to provide income.
In 2012 the Highland Seagull was to be replaced by Highland Cross Seagull.
The old boat was brought to A. L. Gordon Engineers in Falkirk and lengthened to become Wooden Spoon Seagull.
The lengthening involved adding an opening sliding roof section in the centre of the boat.
She is fitted with 24volt electrical points and seating and workspace for a class.
The passenger capacity requires skippering by qualified boatmasters.
Seen here with the centre roof section closed.
Several Trust volunteers joined a training programme and qualified as boatmasters.
Wooden Spoon Seagull was named on 6 July 2012 by HRH The Princess Royal.
The modified boat had some teething problems. Mechanical trouble and physical damage to the sliding roof occurred at a lock entrance.
Austerity hit the potential school bookings since outings of this nature add to school costs.
Some corporate work developed.
Rather than contributing to Seagull Trust Cruises funds, the project was initially a drain on funds.
The opening of the Kelpies and Helix Park presented opportunities to offer commercial tours which have been financially successful. The 2019 season contributed about £3500.
One difficulty is that there is competition to exploit this market but future prospects look promising.
Covid 19 Postscript
Unfortunately the Covid 19 crisis in 2021 meant that Wooden Spoon could not operate. Income dried up but some expenditure such as insurance and maintenance continued. Seagull Trust Enterprises was running at a loss so had to close. The boat passed to the parent charity Seagull Trust Cruises who managed to sell it.