#HealthyStreetsStories Roundup

30th March 2022 / Posted by Fiona Coull

CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) Programme has been running a social media campaign throughout March called #HealthyStreetsStories. The campaign celebrates all the amazing work that CRP and our partners have achieved as part of the programme, which will sadly be coming to an end at the end of the month.

The Healthy Streets Everyday Programme is a 3 year Mayor’s Air Quality funded programme that aims to make lasting and transformative change to streets throughout London using the Healthy Streets Approach. To bring this to life, the #HealthyStreetsStories campaign has included videos, photos, interviews and testimonials from people in the local community who have benefited from the different schemes.

For example, the campaign showcases HSE initiatives such as:

  • Play streets
  • Parklets
  • School Streets
  • An Ivy Green Screen
  • A Nature Walk
  • Scooter parking
  • Monitoring Schemes
  • Dr Bike Sessions
  • Road Closure events (Christmas markets)
  • Cargo Bike delivery services
  • Walking / wayfinding improvements
  • Cycle lane installations
  • A Pocket Park

Creating streets that are pleasant, safe places for all Londoners’ to enjoy has become more important than ever, and the #HealthyStreetsStories campaign highlights some of the fantastic ways that the HSE programme has enabled this.

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, said “It has been great to witness the progress of Cross River Partnership’s Healthy Streets Everyday programme over the past three years. This project, supported by the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund, has helped to empower boroughs, businesses and communities to reduce emissions and exposure to toxic air through positive changes to London’s streets, including school streets, play streets and walking and cycling initiatives. I hope that the programme promotes further action towards tackling air pollution to help create a cleaner, greener city that we can all be proud of.”

For further information about the HSE Programme take a look at our HSE Webpage or contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull, fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org

River Freight Guide for Businesses Launched in April

30th March 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

In early April, CRP will be releasing our new guide ‘Setting up a River Freight Project for Businesses’, which will guide businesses who are interested in using the River Thames to begin a pilot.

The guide includes a case study with DHL, who have been delivering on the river since 2018, as well as information, terminology and relevant groups and contacts which will help businesses to implement a river freight trial.

River freight can help to reduce road traffic and air pollution, as well as being more reliable and providing an easy way to access Central London.

CRP’s new Clean Air Logistics for London project, starting in July 2021, will focus on river freight and further making the underused Thames a viable route for goods coming into London.

Keep an eye out on our Twitter and Instagram where we will be launching the guide in the near future. For any more information on the guide, please contact CRP Project Officer David Ebbrell.

New Healthy Streets Everyday Report Launched

30th March 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

Last week saw the launch of new report ‘Making School Streets Healthier: Learning from Temporary and Emergency Closures’. This report was written by University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy PhD researcher Asa Thomas and part-funded through CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday programme.

During the pandemic, many School Streets were brought in as temporary and emergency measures across London, to aid with social distancing, improving air quality and encouraging active travel to school.

This report focuses on two School Street schemes on Fairholt Road and Rendlesham Road in the London Borough of Hackney, to evaluate their impact and effectiveness. The research utilised Vivacity’s monitoring tools to provide spatial, vehicular and time data to examine how the area was used and the changes over time as a result of the School Street.

The report finds that School Streets lead to significant reductions in traffic both during the closure time and over the whole day, a minimal change in pedestrian numbers and use of space and improvements in several Healthy Streets indicators. It also provided recommendations for enhancing the positive aspects of School Streets.

Read the full report and all of its recommendations here. For more information on the Healthy Streets Everyday programme, please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull.

Hammersmith and Fulham Businesses Invited to Use FREE Dongles

30th March 2022 / Posted by Isidora Rivera Vollmer

Cross River Partnership (CRP) and London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham are providing businesses with a FREE opportunity to monitor and assess their fleet for electric vehicle (EV) suitability.

As part of the Clean Air Villages 4 (CAV4) project, CRP is collaborating with Geotab to provide businesses with telematic dongle devices in order to carry out a free EV suitability assessment. This is a personalised report highlighting whether switching to an EV is a suitable option for your business.

If you are interested in understanding more, please complete our short Electric Vehicle Survey  or email CRP stating your interest. We will then send you a free telematic dongle(s) to use for three months to monitor your vehicles’ driving speeds, distances, daily mileages, times, and parking locations. This data will provide a unique insight into your delivery vehicle needs, helping to identify whether your business would benefit from purchasing an EV, or from using a shared EV option.

Following the monitoring, you will be provided with your own personalised EV suitability assessment report. This is a personalised report highlighting whether your business can switch to an EV and assisting you with the first steps of your EV procurement process.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Officer Isidora Rivera Vollmer.

CRP’s Annual Report and Business Plan

30th March 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

CRP is pleased to announce that the latest Annual Report & Business Plan was agreed at the CRP Board meeting on 1st March 2022.

CRP’s vision is to address sustainability challenges collaboratively in London and beyond. As a testbed for exciting projects in towns and cities, we will share knowledge, evidence, and best practice for the people who live, work and visit these places.

The Annual Report & Business Plan details achievements from 2021 – 2022, including 208 121 meetings as part of Clean Air Villages 4, a shared vehicle launched in Shepherd’s Bush, 10 new chargers installed at UPS Camden for a pilot, Healthy Streets Everyday planting installed at Duke of York Square and Chapel Market, 12 Lunchtime Launch events, 20 reports for monitoring in South Bank BID and much more!

We have set ourselves a series of challenging targets for the year ahead for our projects, including the newly-launched Clean Air Logistics for London!

Read the full Annual Report and Business plan here. To join us for the official launch, please tune in to the next session of CRP’s Connect 4 Series – sign up here.

For more information, or if your organisation would like to partner with us, please contact CRP Communications Project Manager Rachael Aldridge.

Funding Success: Clean Air Logistics for London

30th March 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

We are very excited to announce that we have been successful in our funding application to the Defra Air Quality Grant Scheme to launch Clean Air Logistics for London (CALL).

The project will move more freight into London via river rather than road, supported by a network of highly visible zero emission delivery methods across the Central London area, including Electric Vehicles, Cargo Bikes and Walking Freight. The CALL project will be delivered over the period 1st July 2022 – 30th June 2023, with ongoing Air Quality improvements continuing beyond the life of the project.

The City of Westminster are the lead authority and there are ten project partners in total: London Borough of Hammersmith and FulhamLondon Borough of IslingtonLondon Borough of LambethLondon Borough of LewishamLondon Borough of SouthwarkLondon Borough of WandsworthPort of London AuthorityThe Fitzrovia Partnership, and Cadogan.

If you’d like to find out more, please contact Kate Fenton katefenton@crossriverpartnership.org.

CRP’s Next Event!

30th March 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

CRP’s Connect 4 Series: Session 3 is taking place on Thursday 31st March, 4pm – 4:45pm.

This interactive event will examine ways of mitigating the negative impact of road traffic in London, through reduction, innovation and legislation. 
Register Now! 
Rail freight has the ability to take many polluting delivery vehicles off the road and transport large amounts of goods into central urban areas. CRP’s latest study features interviews with rail operators, businesses, local authorities and BIDs regarding their experience with rail freight and covers freight train adaption, passenger train adaption and learnings and recommendations.
The construction industry is also making steps to reduce their carbon footprint, and Construction Logistics Plans (CLPs) are a large part of this. Jacobs will examine the efficacy of CLPs and other ways in which construction companies can manage their impact on the environment.

The speakers for Session 3 are:

1. Isidora Rivera Vollmer, Project Officer, Cross River Partnership

2. Ollie Bolderson, Principal Consultant, Momentum Transport

3. Mark Thirkell, Morag Robertson and Gordon Sutherland, Jacobs

 

For more information, please contact CRP Communications Project Manager Rachael Aldridge.

Shout Out!

21st February 2022 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

This is a huge Shout Out to the CRP Team!  From the start of 2022 they have been working harder than ever to deliver real results that benefit our CRP Partners, CRP Funders, and ultimately all Londoners.

Every single member of the CRP Team demonstrates our accountable body’s Westminster Way of working, on a daily basis. At the end of a two year period that has been challenging in many different ways, CRP Team Members are still demonstrating resilience, diligence, initiative, enthusiasm and creativity, as well as supporting each other, unreservedly.

Thank you to all members of the CRP Team for being amazing! I am honoured to work alongside you.

Susannah Wilks, Director of CRP.

Pedal Me School Runs

21st February 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

Cargo bike school runs are becoming increasingly common in the UK. Infrastructure such as segregated cycle lanes and LTNs have made the cargo bike school run more viable.

Pedal Me are running an innovative cargo bike to school scheme and are looking for schools to take part! They transport unaccompanied children to school via cargo bike. Parents can track their children in real time and the riders are also trained by a programme that has ‘assured’ status by City and Guilds and fully DBS checked. Routes are plotted for safety for up to three children.

Decarbonising the school-run has never been more important. 30% of morning traffic is for the school run in London, even though distances can be walkable. Cargo bikes are fun, innovative and have been proven to work in other European countries with similar city densities and weather patterns.

Decarbonising the school-run benefits everybody! Get in touch with Pedal Me below to enquire today.

Celebrate World Wildlife Day!

21st February 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

Thursday 3rd March marks World Wildlife Day (WWD)!

WWD is all about celebrating and raising awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. 2022’s theme is “recovering key species for ecosystem restoration”. The celebrations will seek to draw attention to the conservation status of some of the most critically endangered species of wild fauna and flora and to drive discussions towards imagining and implementing solutions to conserve them.

For inspiration on how to introduce more wildlife into cities, take a look at the Healthy Streets Everyday ‘Greening out the Grey’ report!

For more information, please contact CRP Communications Project Manager Rachael Aldridge.