Idle Women cofounders Rachel Anderson and Cis O’Boyle originally wanted to open a touring arts centre exclusively for women.
But, conscious of the many cuts to funding during a decade of austerity, they decided on something that couldn’t be “closed down or taken away”.
This meant owning their resources.They decided they could stretch to a narrowboat and, in early 2016, built the 55ft Selina Cooper and bought a permanent mooring in Nelson, Lancashire.