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Transforming Hercules Road

19th May 2025 / Posted by Sarah Meertens

As part of Cross River Partnership’s Healthy Streets Everyday II programme, WeAreWaterloo has been working with London Borough of Lambeth and the South Bank and Waterloo Neighbours Forum (SoWN) to transform Hercules Road. 

In place of car parking, Hercules Road now sees lush green spaces along with new seating and cycle parking, creating a vibrant public space for residents, visitors and workers alike. 

The newly introduced greenery plays a crucial role in improving the area’s climate resilience. Planted areas will help absorb rainwater, reducing the risk of surface flooding while also improving biodiversity. During the summer months, the added tree cover will provide shade and help counteract increasingly warm temperatures. 

The shift away from car-centric street design and the introduction of more green infrastructure contribute to improved air quality. Trees and plants naturally filter pollutants from the air, while promoting walking and cycling helps reduce traffic emissions. 

This transformation is a milestone within the broader South Bank and Waterloo Net Zero 2030 Strategy - a collaborative effort by the South Bank and Waterloo Sustains Us partnership to improve local air quality and environmental sustainability. 

Hercules Road was partially funded through CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday II, a Mayor of London Air Quality Funded 3-year programme that will address the issue of over-dependence on private vehicles, and the associated issues of poor Air Quality, Environment, Safety, Health, and Wellbeing.     

For more information on the HSE II programme, please contact CRP Project Lead, Ross Phillips.

The London Walking Festival: Get Involved

19th May 2025 / Posted by Sobastian Frazer

The London Walking Festival is a month-long celebration of walking and wheeling in London, hosted by London National Park City and in collaboration with Go Jauntly and Footways.   

Running from the 1st to the 31st of May, the London Walking Festival isn’t just about walking, it’s about experiencing the city in a new light!  

Whether you’re looking to reconnect with nature , learn something new about your community ️or simply enjoy some fresh air, the festival is a perfect opportunity to get moving in ways that feel good. 

Also! There are a few events happening during the London Walking Festival such as: 

Explore the official festival page here to view the full programme and secure a space on upcoming walks: London Walking Festival London National Park City  

£1.5m landmark social investment pilot to boost Black and Global Majority-led social enterprises

19th May 2025 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

Trust for London, City Bridge Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation have created a six-year social investment pilot to support Black and global majority-led community enterprises. 

The new ‘Beyond Barriers’ facility comprises a powerful blend of patient, flexible catalytic capital and skills support. 

It’s built around knowledge sharing and skills transfer from Sumerian Foundation, a pioneering impact-first investor, to BUD Leaders – a Black-led, female-led organisation based in South London. 

BUD Leaders will receive tailored support to build capacity as a future social investor, developing the team’s ability to identify, support and fund minority-led social enterprises. 

Beyond Barriers responds to the findings of the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment, which called for “comprehensive structural reform” to the social investment market. 

It also aims to fill a gap in the social investment market for unrestricted grant funding, identified in 2023 research by ClearView Research — a Black-led agency — drawing on feedback from social enterprises supported by Sumerian Foundation. 

Find out more here.  Watch this space for updates on how the pilot progresses. 

Pier Information Sheets – Coming Soon!

19th May 2025 / Posted by Fiona Coull

Through CRP’s Smarter Greener Logistics Programme, the CRP Team have been working closely with the Port of London Authority to promote the use of The Thames for freight. 

The river provides a quick, traffic-free way to get goods into the centre of London, whilst also offering a more sustainable option than delivering by road. 

However, a big barrier is often cited as a lack of understanding. This is why CRP is excited to be launching 5 Pier Information Sheets!  

Focussed on 5 central London Piers, the information sheets will support operators / businesses to consider river freight operations by providing information on: 

  • Landside Access 
  • Vessel considerations 
  • Potential Consolidation Opportunities 
  • Last Mile Route Planning 
  • Local low emission couriers 
  • Local Logistics Hubs 
  • Wider Stakeholders 
  • Next Steps 

Look out for them very soon! 

For further information, please contact Fiona Coull.

UK Government Delays Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate

16th May 2025 / Posted by Guillaume Strebelle

In response to the US’s 10% tariffs on UK goods, the UK Government has postponed its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate from 2030 to 2035.  

The government argued that extending the ZEV deadline would provide more flexibility for manufacturers, allowing for higher vehicle sales in the years when demand is expected to increase. To further support the electric vehicle (EV) transition, the government will continue its tax incentives and invest in expanding EV charging infrastructure. 

The government outlined the major changes to the ZEV mandate as: 

  • Maintaining the existing phase-out trajectories for cars and vans 
  • Extending the current ability to borrow in 2024-26 
  • Extending the current ability to transfer non-ZEVs to ZEVs from 2024-26, out to 2029, giving significant additional flexibility to reward CO2 savings from hybrids. Caps will be included to ensure credibility 
  • Introducing a new flexibility by allowing for van to car transfer, i.e. 1 car credit will be exchanged for 0.4 van credits, and 1 van credit will be exchanged for 2.0 car credits 

My Work Experience at CRP – Emilie Dalle

25th April 2025 / Posted by Katie Smith

In April, Emilie Dalle a Year 12 Student at Wimbledon High School joined us for a couple of days to gain experience in the field of sustainability. Hear of her experience working with the CRP Team.  

“I have been lucky enough to spend a couple days working alongside the team at Cross River Partnership to gain some work experience to support my interest in sustainability and place-making. 

My work has included supporting communications work for the Healthy Streets Everyday II programme which has broadened my research and creativity skills. As well as this, I was fortunate enough to be able to go on a site visit to a School Street in Kennington Oval, an initiative which will be expanded upon across Lambeth through the Healthy Streets Everyday II programme. I was able to learn about the process and outcome of the initiative and saw how it created a pleasant play environment for school children first-hand. 

I have learnt a lot about careers and projects in sustainability, as well as the amazing difference that CRP is making for communities and London as a whole. Thank you to the whole team for being so welcoming and accommodating during my time here.” 

A huge thank you to Emilie for all of her hard work!

Funding Opportunities for CRP Partners

25th April 2025 / Posted by Fiona Coull

As part of CRP’s ongoing fundraising activities, we continue to review live and upcoming funding opportunities. Here are a few we thought may be of interest to our partners: 

EIT – Culture, Shape & Scale Programmes 

  • Shape Funding Programme has €330,000 available 
  • Scale Funding Programme has €660,000 available 
  • Consequently the maximum EIT funding for prizes in this call is €990,000. 
  • Applicable to SME’s 
  • Projects must tackle challenges in at least one of EIT Culture & Creativity’s priority areas: audio-visual media, fashion, architecture, gaming or cultural heritage. 
  • Link to funding call here 👈 

Horizon Europe – ELIAS – European Lighthouse of AI 

  • €240,000 available   
  • Application deadline of 30 April 2025 23:59 (Brussels time) 
  • Applicable to SME, startups and NGO’s 
  • ELIAS is focused on 3 research spheres but applications are not limited to them if the proposals will address high-impact societal and economic challenges using machine learning. 
  • Use Cases include: AI for Building Optimization; AI for Monitoring the Virtual Infrastructure; AI for Forecasting of Vegetation State 
  • Link for further information found here 👈 

Just Streets Pre-Intervention Monitoring Complete

25th April 2025 / Posted by Guillaume Strebelle

Cross River Partnership’s (CRP) work is continuing on the Just Streets project. Those of you who follow us know we’ve been busy working on three exciting projects across central London:  

  • A School Street initiative in Lambeth.   

Before installation, CRP conducted pre-intervention monitoring in order to highlight benefits of each intervention compared with the previous situation. Now complete, this pre-intervention monitoring work has included lots of observational work to understand how people engage with and use the space, as well as traffic and pedestrian counts.

This pre-intervention monitoring is is part of the wider Just Streets monitoring requirement focusing on developing streets shaped by active mobility that are both sustainable and inclusive for all citizens.

Beyond this project, CRP is very pleased to be able to offer tailored monitoring services on a consultancy basis to any organisation that is interested.

Think CRP’s Monitoring and Data Analysis Services could support your project? Don’t hesitate to contact CRP’s Senior Programme Manager Fiona Coull to discuss!

Spring Into Action and Walk this May

25th April 2025 / Posted by Ross Phillips

CRP’s Spring Into Action campaign shares ways in which CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday II (HSE II) programme partners and the CRP team are walking and cycling more this spring!  

Spring Into Action has been promoted on CRP’s social media channels in Spring and will continue on throughout May to tie in with the Living Streets’ National Walking Month. This aims to promote all the ways that you can walk more every day by exploring your neighbourhoods, walk as part of your commute to school or work, and enjoy the warmer weather and longer days that have come as a result of Spring. 

Our partners on the programme will continue to deliver exciting improvements to London’s streets, with upgrades to cycling infrastructure, walking routes, implementing school streets, creating low emission transport infrastructure and providing more green space.  

We hope you pick up more local gems in London to walk, cycle, wheel or scoot – you can find out more on CRP’s LinkedIn channel.

HSE II is a Mayor’s Air Quality Funded 3-year programme that will address the issue of over-dependence on private vehicles, and the associated issues of poor Air Quality, Environment, Safety, Health, and Wellbeing.  

For more information on the HSE II programme, please contact CRP Project Lead for Healthy Streets Everyday II, Ross Phillips.

A Need to Improve Air Quality Communications in the UK

25th April 2025 / Posted by Sobastian Frazer

A recent report Air Quality Information System Review Report published by Defra highlights the need to make air quality data more accessible and recognisable – especially for the communities most at risk such as families near busy roads, school children, areas facing environmental inequality, older adults and those with health conditions.

Right now, data is often too complex or inconsistent. Even tools like the Air Quality Index are underused due to poor public awareness and mixed messaging. 

To close the gap, we need to communicate air quality in smarter, more human ways: 

  • Simplify the data 
  • Work with trusted local partners 
  • Use visuals and storytelling 
  • Target high-risk groups 
  • Empower community voices 

Effective communication is the link between policy, science, and the public. 

It’s time to move beyond technical reports and scattershot alerts and build a new standard for air quality communication that is inclusive, engaging, and above all—actionable. 

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