News Articles Archive - Cross River Partnership

CRP is very pleased to announce the promotion of Isidora Rivera Vollmer to Project Manager! Well done Isidora!

Over recent months Isidora has been leading CRP’s work supporting Westminster City Council to set up a Micro Freight Hub in Pimlico – watch this space for launch information.

Isidora has also overseen the production of A Lived Experience of a Micro Hub guide, funded by Impact on Urban Health and designed to facilitate the roll-out of more Micro Hubs across London, with the ensuing improvements in Air Quality from which we will all benefit.

To find out more about all the exciting work that she has in the pipeline, please contact CRP Project Manager Isidora Rivera Vollmer isidorariveravollmer@crossriverpartnership.org.

CRP’s London Light Freight River Trial has come to an end after 4 successful weeks!

The trial was London’s first daily, multi-supplier, river freight trial along the Thames and was a collaboration between the Port of London Authority, Lyreco UK & Ireland, Speedy Services, Thames Clippers Logistics, Grid Smarter Cities and Pedal Me.

The trial focused on the next day delivery market and also incorporated return deliveries, highlighting how the river can enable fast, efficient and consistent deliveries in a more sustainable way.

Fiona Coull, Programme Manager, CRP, said:

“It has been brilliant to work with so many partners on the London Light Freight River Trial to get more freight into central London by river rather than by road. Incorporating return deliveries even further highlights how effective the river can be for just-in-time deliveries, as well as the opportunity it provides to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint and improve congestion and air quality.”

Take a look at the video testimonials.

Over the next few weeks CRP will be evaluating the trials impact on air quality and emissions using the CRP Transport Emissions Calculator and compiling the key learnings from the trial. We look forward to sharing our findings!

For more information visit the CRP website or contact CRP Programme Manager Fiona Coull fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org.

The CRP Board meeting took place on Thursday 9th March 2023.

It was extremely well-attended with representation from 21 public and private bodies in central London. Huge thanks to all of CRP’s partners for your ongoing support.

CRP was very pleased to welcome Harley Street BID onto the Board.

CRP was also very pleased to hear Dan Fredriksson of the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) presenting on the opportunity presented by Waterloo Station for handling freight alongside passengers as part of the Network Rail and London Borough of Lambeth Waterloo Station Master Planning exercise. Dan will also be presenting at Thursday’s CRP Conversations webinar – Innovative Transport Decarbonisation – so do sign up if you haven’t done so already.

The CRP Board signed off CRP’s draft Annual Report and Business Plan, which will be launched this Thursday 30th March 2023.

CRP Membership fee levels were approved, and have remained at the same level for the last 12 years.

For any Board-related ideas or queries please contact CRP Director susannahwilks@crossriverpartnership.org.

CRP is excited to share that we are currently working with Studio Republic, an ethical digital and creative agency, to develop an interactive website to promote the use of the Thames for freight to London-based organisations.

CRP’s Thames Directory will support businesses with essential resources for Thames-related information. This will, for example, include an interactive map with pier and landownership information, points of contact, a comment section, as well as a comprehensible list of river vessel operators and cargo bike logistics providers.

This site is being commissioned as part of CRP’s Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme.

Watch this space for more information!

Over the past month, the CRP team has been working closely with partners to deliver our Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme. This included an exciting trip to the Cory Waste Transfer Station, and the launch of CRP’s London Light Freight River Trial.

As part of our most recent CALL Steering Group Meeting, CRP and partners visited the Cory Waste Transfer Station at Smugglers Wharf. The station specialises in transporting, loading, unloading, and processing waste to and from the river. The visit was extremely interesting and showed partners how the process works, as well as how vital the river is to avoiding truckloads of recyclable and non-recyclable material to be transported on our roads.

This month, CRP also launched the London Light Freight River Trial; London’s first daily, multi-supplier, river freight trial along the Thames.

CRP has been working with the Port of London Authority, Lyreco UK & Ireland, Speedy Services, Thames Clippers Logistics, Grid Smarter Cities and Pedal Me to deliver the trial, which officially began on Monday 27th of February. The trial serves the next day delivery market and also incorporates return deliveries, highlighting how the river can enable fast, efficient and consistent deliveries in a more sustainable way.

Both the Cory site visit and the London Light Freight River Trial are excellent demonstrations of how the river can be used for innovatively transporting goods and reducing congestion within central London.

If you would like to find out more about any of the above initiatives, please contact CRP Programme Manager Fiona Coull fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org.

We’re looking for a Project Officer to help us and our public- and private-sector partners collaboratively deliver solutions that make London fairer, greener and safer.

You’ll wear many hats working with us, and no two days will be the same. You may find yourself carrying out a quantitative analysis of air quality (the more comfortable you are with Excel, the better), visiting project sites, chatting with local business owners, helping prepare for an event, writing a detailed research paper or drafting social media posts, giving presentations online and in-person at external events, or doing something else entirely.

We’re a small team, friendly and supportive but also professional. We offer a competitive salary, 30 days of annual leave, development opportunities, and a hybrid work environment (the whole team’s usually in our Westminster City Hall office once a week).

Application deadline is 10 April 2023.

We can’t wait to meet you!

On 10 March, the City of London Corporation held a breakfast reception and panel discussion to mark International Women’s Day. The theme of the event was gender equality and gender equity.

Deputy Christopher Hayward, Chairman of Policy and Resources at the City of London Corporation, welcomed guests and introduced the panel. Chaired by Alderman Alison Gowman, the panel included Nadia Minors (Progress Together), Annamarie Phelps, CBE (International Working Group on Women & Sport) and Laura Winningham, OBE (City Harvest).

The speakers delved into their professional experiences to offer insight into issues such as inequity in the workplace, additional hurdles faced by women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, the value of more diverse boards, and more. Their stimulating discussion prompted many questions from the audience, overall making for an inspiring morning.

Are you able to spare an hour or more to help tidying up the environment? Then why not make a pledge to help pick up a bag of litter? 17th March – 2nd April is the Great British Spring Clean, a campaign in its eighth year being run by Keep Britain Tidy.

Why not pledge to become a #LitterHero and perhaps get your friends and family involved and make a group pledge to take action. Litter-picking is a simple action that you can undertake to help contribute to making a visible difference to your local environment.

Watch this short video to see some pledges by other people.

A recent study by Monash University in Australia is the first to track levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on a global basis. The study concluded that only 0.18% of global land area and 0.001% of the global population are exposed to safe levels of PM2.5 according to recommendations from the World Health Organisation.

Whilst the study recognised levels have reduced in Europe and North America in the last 20 years levels on a global basis have continued to rise, with over 70% of days globally seeing unsafe concentrations of PM2.5.

The study identified Southern and Eastern Asia as particular areas of concern with over 90% of days having unsafe quantities. The paper also notes different seasonal impact in different areas of the globe.

The lead researcher on the project, Professor Guo, hopes the study will help relevant parties better understand “the short-term and long-term health effects of air pollution and develop air pollution mitigation strategies”.

For more information, visit Monash University website.

Are you a small business looking to tackle environmental sustainability and reduce your emissions, but don’t know where to start?

Look no further than Sustainable Steps, a Cross River Partnership tool to help businesses take action, one step at a time.

Sustainable Steps has compiled a number of actions that businesses can take on as pledges, from reducing energy usage, switching to sustainable transport, or reducing waste, there are plenty of options to get started with. Businesses can make multiple pledges and Sustainable Steps will provide prompts at regular intervals to update progress and help businesses keep on track and motivated.

Your small actions can make a big impact on the planet, and we’re here to help you every step of the way!

If you would like to find out more, please email CRP Project Manager Sefinat Otaru sefinatotaru@crossriverpartnership.org.

Archives: News Articles

Project Manager Promotion

London Light Freight River Trial

Cross River Partnership’s March Board Meeting

CRP’s Upcoming Web Tool: “CRP’s Thames Directory”

Clean Air Logistics for London – March Update

Join the team at CRP

Tackling Gender Equality and Equity on International Women’s Day

Great British Spring Clean – Keep Britain Tidy

New global daily air pollution study findings

Sustainable Steps: Helping Small Businesses Take a Step Towards Sustainability