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Clean Air Day: Thursday 15th June

31st May 2023 / Posted by CRP Team

Clean Air Day, the UK’s largest campaign on air pollution, is happening on Thursday 15th June 2023. The theme is – “Clean up our air to look after your mind this #CleanAirDay”.

Every year, air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK. A new report from InSPIRE highlights that people who breathe polluted air are more likely to develop mental health and brain conditions.

Clean Air Day is encouraging local authorities, schools, health professionals, campaign and community groups and individuals to get involved through campaigning, raising awareness and individual actions. Find out more by visiting the Clean Air Day website.

Over the coming weeks, CRP will be highlighting our range of projects, delivered in collaboration with project partners, that aim to improve London’s air quality and supporting CRP’s vision to make London a better place to live, work and visit.

Visit the CRP website and projects page to find out more:

CRP’s Summer Event

31st May 2023 / Posted by CRP Team

CRP is holding a celebration at Somerset House on Thursday 29th June, from 6:30pm onwards. For this year’s annual summer event, CRP will be launching the exciting new Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) project and celebrating the successes of the Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme.

If you would like to apply for ticket, please contact CRP Communications Project Manager Rachael Aldridge – rachaelaldridge@crossriverpartnership.org

Carol’s Retiring Early

31st May 2023 / Posted by CRP Team

It is with sadness in our hearts that we are letting you all know that CRP’s fantastic Operations Manager, Carol Quamina, is retiring early.

Carol has achieved 39 years working in Local Government, spending the last 9 years at Westminster City Council leading CRP’s Operations functions and delegating for CRP’s Director Susannah Wilks. Carol will be sorely missed! Carol leaves behind her an impressive track record for the CRP team and partners to continue to build upon. Under Carol’s guidance, CRP has never failed a single audit.

Carol has overseen an enormous range of projects that have transformed central London, including the Millennium Bridge (during her time at the London Borough of Southwark), Recruit London supporting 3,000 workless Londoners into sustained jobs, as well as all sorts of Air Quality-improving initiatives including Westminster City Council’s Micro Logistics Hub, The Fitzrovia Partnership’s Walking Freight Trial and the Mayor of London’s Healthy Streets Everyday programme.

Carol has taught everyone in the CRP Team different parts of her job, so there is no doubt at all that the good ship CRP will continue sailing strongly in her absence.

Thank you for everything you have done for CRP and for Local Government generally over the years Carol, and enjoy your retirement to the full!

CRP’s Retrofit on the Thames

30th May 2023 / Posted by Sefinat Otaru

CRP is funding the retrofit of Albert, a workboat owned by Net Zero Marine Services!

Albert was drydocked at Eel Pie Island earlier this month to start its conversion from a diesel vessel to the first fully electric workboat operating on the Thames. Emissions Analytics monitored the vessel’s exhaust in April to quantify the air pollutants that will be eliminated by the retrofit.  

We will be sharing those details and more once the retrofit is completed later this summer when the Albert becomes Alb-E.

This forms part of our Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme.  

London Festival of Architecture 2023

30th May 2023 / Posted by CRP Team

What not join in the celebrations for London Festival of Architecture 2023.

This month-long event runs annually in June to celebrate architecture and place-making across London with the aim of being people-led in collaboration with event organisers.  The festival’s mission is also to open discussions around architecture, discover new talent as well as pilot new ideas.

This year’s festival theme is ‘In Common’ encouraging creation and shaping the space we share as a city with the aim of getting an array of event organisers to produce a varied programme.  See details of the reflections from this year’s Curation Panel.

Take a look at the programme of some of the events being run to celebrate this year’s Festival, details of which can be found here.

Clean Air Logistics for London: Penultimate Month Complete!

30th May 2023 / Posted by Fiona Coull

With one month to go on CRP’s Clean Air Logistics for London Programme, CRP and partners have been extremely busy! From implementing walking freight and river freight trials, to launching online tools and resources, read more about what we’ve been up to this month.

  • We’ve been working with London Borough of Southwark to install a Delivering London parcel locker next to the Harbour Master’s Dock Offices near Greenland Surrey Quays.
  • We also completed vessel exhaust monitoring of ‘The Albert’ to understand emissions impacts of retrofitting the engine. The retrofit (to make the vessel fully electric) has also begun and the vessel has been renamed to Alb-E.
  • The second drop was successfully completed as part of CRP’s River Freight Pilot Part Two. This trial focusses on using the river for the bulk delivery of goods to make it more economically viable for businesses. We’ve also been working with The Northbank BID to organise an engagement event for the trial to get more businesses involved.
  • Working closely with The Fitzrovia Partnership, London Borough of Camden, UPS and Heal’s, the London Light Freight Walking Trial started this month with an e-walker carrying out deliveries in Fitzrovia.
  • The first month of data has been provided for the Westminster City Council Micro Logistics Hub trial. We will be sharing these in a final report once the trial is complete.
  • Finally, we have launched CRP’s Thames Directory – an online tool that provides information about utilising The River Thames to transport goods into London. It aims to make it easier for businesses to find contacts and information on vessel operators, pier owners and last mile couriers that could be needed for any river freight operations.

We also had our third Steering Group Meeting this month, which included a site visit to the Chelsea Harbour Sustainable Deliveries Hub in London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. There was a demonstration of the parcel lockers as part of the visit, and there was also an opportunity for partners to network over nibbles, tea and coffee.

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

Smarter Greener Logistics

30th May 2023 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

CRP is looking forward to starting delivery of its latest Defra-funded project to improve Air Quality in London – Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL). 

SGL will officially commence on 1st July 2023 and will be an excellent legacy for the current Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme. 

SGL has secured £1 million of Defra funding to work with CRP’s accountable body Westminster City Council and up to 13 other central London Local Authorities, as well as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and other Strategic Agencies, including Believ, ecofleet, EMSOL, Grid Smarter Cities, Port of London Authority, Transport for London, WHH Barges, Zedify and others. 

SGL will support a network of Urban Logistics Hubs, serviced by Low Emission Last Delivery Miles, to reduce harmful NO2 emissions from freight movements in central London. 

For further information please contact CRP Director Susannah Wilks susannahwilks@crossriverpartnership.org or CRP Programme Manager Fiona Coull fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org 

New Sustainable Deliveries Hub in Sands End

18th May 2023 / Posted by Isidora Rivera Vollmer

Cross River Partnership is excited to introduce the sustainable deliveries hub in Sands End in collaboration with the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), Chelsea Harbour Estate, and YEEP! Lockers, as part of CRP’s Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London project. This also aligns with LBHF’s Clean Air Neighbourhoods programme.

The hub is located on Harbour Ave near the Thames Path (what3words location: chips.taking.drama), near Imperial Wharf station. It is made up of two cargo bike delivery bays as well as a ‘Yeep!’ agnostic parcel locker and aims to encourage Low-Emission deliveries to residents as well as the surrounding area.

This initiative is also supporting potential river freight opportunities, due its close proximity to Chelsea Harbour Pier – a pier which has been identified as a good opportunity for future river freight services. 

CRP will be sharing learnings from this initiative in the coming months! 

For more information please contact CRP Project Manager Isidora Rivera Vollmer isidorariveravollmer@crossriverpartnership.org

New Micro Logistics Hub in Pimlico

25th April 2023 / Posted by Isidora Rivera Vollmer

Westminster City Council and Cross River Partnership are excited to have launched a new six-month micro logistics hub trial in Pimlico on 17th April; supporting zero-emission last-mile deliveries in the City of Westminster!

This is a WCC and CRP-funded micro logistics hub trial, supported by Infinium Logistics, and carried out by zero-emission couriers Delivery Mates. Based in the Q-Park UK Pimlico parking facility, parcels are being delivered to the hub by electric delivery vehicles and distributed by electric cargo bikes in Westminster and the surrounding area. 

The micro logistics hub acts as a crucial step for consolidating deliveries, bulk-buying, and a place to sort deliveries, which can reduce the number of polluting vehicle trips and congestion. It is estimated that cargo e-bikes will deliver about 2,000 parcels a day from the hub to residents and businesses, thereby reducing congestion, pollution, and fatalities.

Read the official press release here.

The trial is a collaboration between Westminster City Council, Infinium Logistics, Delivery Mates, Q-Park UK, and Cross River Partnership and part of the Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London programme.

For more information, contact CRP Project Manager Isidora Rivera Vollmer isidorariveravollmer@crossriverpartnership.org. 

Clean Air Logistics for London – April Update

25th April 2023 / Posted by Fiona Coull

This month has seen the launch of an exciting new scheme as part of our Defra-funded Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL) programme.  

Cross River Partnership (CRP) and Westminster City Council (WCC) launched a six-month micro logistics hub trial in Pimlico, on 17th April. Supported by Infinium Logistics, and carried out by Delivery Mates, the hub will help to support zero-emission last-mile deliveries in the City of Westminster.  You can read more about the scheme in this article here! 

However, the Westminster hub is not the only thing that has been keeping the CRP team busy this month! During April, we have also made progress with the following CALL programme initiatives: 

  • We published “On track for sustainable logistics: Integrating Rail Freight into London’s deliveries”. The study investigates the opportunity to use existing station infrastructure to support the efficient and sustainable delivery of freight into Central London using rail. You can find out more here. 
  • We have also been finalising ‘CRP’s Thames Directory” – an interactive web tool that aims to promote the use of the Thames for freight to London-based organisations. This is due to go live next month. 
  • We have also completed the installation of a sustainable deliveries hub near Chelsea Harbour Pier in partnership with the LB of Hammersmith & Fulham. The hub includes two cargo bike bays as well as a 2m long Delivering London Parcel Locker (known as Yeep!). The hub will help to make deliveries to the area more efficient and sustainable. 
  • Finally, the pre-retrofit monitoring of ‘The Albert’ vessel is also taking place this month. This will help us to understand the impact of retrofitting the vessel to become fully electric. 

If you are interested in finding out more about CRP’s Clean Air Logistics for London programme or have questions about any of the above initiatives, please contact CRP Programme Manager Fiona Coull fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org.  

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