CRT’s Relationship, Policy and Strategy Manager Matthew Symonds, whose job includes maintaining relationships with boaters, recently described liveaboard boaters as “gits”. Symonds, 39, met some former colleagues who work for the Bristol voluntary sector support organisation he left in 2013 to take up his post with CRT. Twice he was asked about how his job was going. His response both times was “I love it, except for all those gits on liveaboards”.
It is no surprise that there is contempt for liveaboard boaters within CRT; the attitude has been endemic in CRT and BW for many years. But it is a massive own goal for the charity when the staff member whose job is manage CRT’s relationships describes a group of customers in such pejorative terms. It shows that CRT has no intention of developing good relationships with us and that the charity doesn’t care how many of us it forces off its waterways.
Matthew Symonds
Tags: Bristol, CRT, liveaboards, Matthew Symonds, prejudice