For decades, Broadness Cruising Club has been home to a unique community of boaters, families, and waterway enthusiasts. We are a self-help, not-for-profit club that provides safe mooring and access to the Thames for all types of vessels, from narrowboats, fishing boats, small dinghies, sailing vessels to dutch barges like ours.

Today, our future is under threat.

Due to a legal dispute over land access, our only route to the site is being forcibly restricted by a developer—putting every member, every boat, and every future renovation project at risk.

They are also threatening to throw the club off the land that the club has used for over 50 years and destroy our jetties and boats, despite us having a clear right to be there.

The developer intends to lock the access gates permanently, which would effectively strand dozens of vessels and destroy a grassroots community that’s been active here for generations.

Why We’re Fundraising

We are raising £10,000 over the next 2 months to fund a legal challenge and fight for our right to access the site. The funds will go directly toward:

Legal representation

Documentation and land rights research

Ongoing legal fees as we challenge the access restriction and the right to use the land the club is on

Any funds not used in the legal battle will be either:

Put towards improving club facilities, or

Donated to the RNLI, as a show of solidarity with our wider maritime community (final decision pending committee vote).

All funds will go into the Broadness Cruising Club bank account

Our finances are fully audited and reviewed annually at our AGM

We are a community-led, constitution-based, not-for-profit organisation

How You Can Help

1. Donate what you can – every pound genuinely helps

2. Share this campaign with your networks, boating forums, local groups, or anyone who believes in protecting community waterways

3. Speak out – let people know what’s happening and why it matters

This isn’t just about a club. It’s about protecting grassroots access to the water, preserving the freedom to live afloat, and stopping the slow erasure of independent communities by unchecked development.

Please help us stand our ground.

Thank you,

The Members of Broadness Cruising Club

❤️