The Wey & Arun Canal Trust has a long and enviable record of volunteer work, going back to the formation of the W&A Canal Society in 1970. In the mid-1970s, before the Internet age, the workers decided they needed more frequent communication than the quarterly Wey-South so the monthly Working Party Report began. This was a photocopied sheet sent to all regular volunteers and other interested parties, listing dates, venues and contact details for forthcoming work parties as well as reports on recent achievements.

Recipients sent in a supply of stamps to help cover the postage costs, so being largely self-funded it was able to assume an identity of its own, with a less staid and more light-hearted image than Wey-South. Although email has largely replaced the post as the preferred distribution method, and details of working parties are available online, the Working Party News tradition continues. 300 editions have now been published, the more recent examples being available in the archive on this website. If you would like to receive your own copy as soon as it is published - on or just after the first of each month - then please send your email address to listadmin@weyandarun.co.uk. Paper copies are still available; please send a supply of stamped self-addressed envelopes (we suggest a year's worth, i.e. twelve) to the WACT office.

Peter Winter, editor Working Party News

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