News Articles Archive - Page 51 of 153 - Cross River Partnership

I am excited to be joining the CRP team just as many of us are returning to the centre of London for work and recreation. The return emphasises that it is as important as ever to prioritise our improvements to London’s built environment and air quality, and to support our local businesses to aid a green post-pandemic recovery. I will be working on key projects that address these issues such as Clean Air Villages 4.

Everyone at CRP has been very helpful, it’s exciting to be part of such a diverse team with a variety of different backgrounds. It’s always enriching to have such a plethora of experiences and wealth of knowledge, I look forward to seeing what my time at CRP will bring. A healthy city starts with our built environment.

For more information, please contact Project Officer Eleanor Marshall.

My first week at CRP has been an amazing experience. The team have been very welcoming, and they have supported me throughout my induction period. I have met the entire team virtually and some even in person. I have already been conducting some research for Healthy Streets Everyday, reading many informative Clean Air Villages reports, undertaking necessary training, and taking part in many interesting meetings. I am excited to work on many more CRP projects soon and can’t wait to put my skills to good use.

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

National Inclusion Week runs from Monday 27th September, bringing together organisations globally to raise awareness and celebrate inclusion in all forms to create a more diverse workplace.

National Inclusion Week is now in its ninth year and the focus is on being #UnitedForInclusion. The celebrations aim to unite people and organisations to share learning, best practice and promote inclusion at work and society in general, so people feel included and valued.

As an inclusive employer, CRP’s accountable body Westminster City Council is celebrating the week by urging its staff to make a difference to someone else. They are providing staff with lots of tips and information plus offering both online and in person training courses on diversity and inclusion.

What will you be doing to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion?

For more information, please contact CRP Operations Manager Carol Quamina.

To help more Westminster City Council (WCC) residents consider electric vehicle usage, WCC are planning to install 500 more EV chargers throughout the borough by March 2022. Westminster has more than 1,000 charging points, at locations based on requests from local people. 98.5% of residents that have contacted the council now have a charger just three minutes’ walk from their homes.

WCC are asking residents where more chargers are needed, to help better identify areas where demand is greatest.

If you live in Westminster and own – or plan to own – an electric vehicle, get in contact!

WCC cannot respond to every request due to levels of demand and because some of the lamp posts in which they are installed are not suitable for conversion.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show took place Tuesday 21st – Sunday 26th September, delayed from its usual May-time slot due to Covid restrictions.

There was a COP26 Garden, calling for all to protect biodiversity and our planet.

There were also new Balcony and Container Garden categories at RHS Chelsea, celebrating small spaces and how they can enrich everyone’s life – “even just one pot on an otherwise bare area can vastly improve our mental health and wellbeing”. Pop Up Container Gardens and a Pocket Forest were other intriguing additions.

The BBC One Show and RHS Garden of Hope illustrated how gardening and growing plants provides hope and joy as we appreciate the fruits of our labour. Central to the design was a beautiful wooden sculpture, which twists and flows through the garden, incorporating seating areas, a child’s swing and creating the feeling of a big hug. We could all do with one of those at the moment!

Please see CRP’s latest Greening the Grey guidance report for further inspiration on the power of plants and gardens and contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull for more information.

Although the Pride in London parade was cancelled this year, this month, like every month, is a great time to celebrate Pride.

Coming Out – Pride in London are running a series of events, including through their Pride in the City initiative to promote inclusivity in business. Launched in 2017 thanks to the support and vision of partners like PwC, Pride in the City (PITC) is now an established and respected initiative. PITC 2021 will provide an even stronger platform to connect businesses with LGBTQ+ community groups, activists and grassroots organisations in order to help discuss ways to make business even more LGBTQ+ inclusive.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “I welcome Pride in London’s plans to further promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace and I urge organisations around the capital to throw their support behind this important initiative.”

Net Zero Festival returns this year from Wednesday 29th September – Friday 1st October, with a host of exciting speakers from climate scientists, politicians, strategic agency and private sector leaders. This year takes on added importance, with COP26 soon taking place in the UK, highlighting the importance of sustainability, net zero and air quality in our future.

Through CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 programme, we are supporting local authorities,
Business Improvement Districts, businesses, and arts, culture and community organisations, with their delivery of net zero targets. This support is particularly geared towards the freight and logistics sector, by improving the efficiency and minimising the impact of deliveries on air quality through consolidating suppliers, exploring micro-consolidation hubs and implementing zero emission last mile solutions such as cargo bikes and electric vehicles.

It looks set to be a great event and we are excited to see the action that comes out of this towards achieving net zero in the UK.

For more information, please contact Senior Project Officer Ross Phillips.

Well done to Cayley Primary School, William Tyndale Primary School and Middle Park Primary School for winning CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday Car Free Day (CFD) School Mural Competition!

This year to support CFD 2021, CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday Programme held a School Mural competition to raise awareness and engage school children on the topics of air pollution and active travel. Winners were announced on Wednesday 22nd September via CRP’s Instagram!

As part of the competition, pupils were asked to design a mural based on the question “What do you think a future with clean air looks like?”. This included:

Walking, cycling and scooting to school
Streets without cars
Tree planting and nature
Using renewable energy sources
Links between air pollution and health

Schools had the chance to win £5k of funding to create a mural, helping to incorporate more art into our streets and support local artists that have been particularly impacted
by the pandemic.

We had over 150 mural submissions as part of the competition, however the winning school murals were designed by:

Mariyah from Cayley Primary School in London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Middle Park Primary School in Royal Borough of Greenwich (pictured)
Lucy from William Tyndale School in London Borough of Islington

Congratulations to our winners and well done to everyone who entered the competition – it was great to see so many brilliant entries!

For further information about the HSE Programme, please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull.

CRP’s next twice-yearly Board meeting will take place online on Thursday 30th September 2021, 10am. We look forward to welcoming all of our public, private and voluntary sector CRP partners there!

We would like to thank outgoing CRP Board Co-Chair Wendy Hyde for all of her work supporting the partnership over the last five years. We will also be welcoming the City of London Corporation’s Keith Bottomley as the incoming CRP Board Co-Chair, alongside our Co-Chair Simon Pitkeathley of Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town BID.

CRP will be asking the Board to approve all of the expenditure and outputs delivered with partners over the last six months, following all of our accountable body Westminster City Council’s procedures.

We will also be seeking Board approval to submit a £1,000,000 collaborative funding bid to Defra’s latest Air Quality grant, building on the success of CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 programme.

For further information, please contact CRP’s Director Susannah Wilks.

Join us from 1:15pm – 2:00pm, Thursday 30th September, for the ninth Lunchtime Launch event in the series, Climate Effects: The Benefits of Greening.

The aim of this session is to equip you with further knowledge of climate adaptation and its effects, as well as share CRP’s new report which look towards a greener future for London, including case study examples.

Sign up here!

CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull will be presenting CRP’s brand-new guidance document “Greening Out the Grey”: The value of Green Infrastructure for People and Places, launched as part of the Mayor of London-funded Healthy Streets Everyday programme. Greening can contribute to healthier, more pleasant streets, whilst also providing significant environmental, social, economic and cultural benefits at a relatively low cost.

We will also be joined by Lauren Racusin, Bloomberg Associates, who is presenting on a series of London-wide climate risk maps created with the Greater London Authority (GLA) to analyse climate exposure and vulnerability across Greater London. Ben Connor, Greater London Authority, will be presenting on the Grow Back Greener Fund and how the GLA prioritise projects that are in areas of the city with poor access to open space, and high climate risk, especially where these are also areas of deprivation.

The main learning points from this session include:

How mapping in London can present areas most susceptible to the effects of climate change, and how these areas are related to demographics
The benefits and importance of greening in cities
How London-based organisations can combat climate issues through public realm interventions

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

Archives: News Articles

Welcome to new CRP Project Officer Eleanor!

Welcome to new CRP Project Officer Isidora!

National Inclusion Week

Westminster Goes Electric

Natural Health Service

Celebrating Pride

Net Zero Festival 2021

Well Done to the Healthy Streets Everyday Car Free Day School Mural Competition Winners!

Cross River Partnership Board Meeting

This week’s Lunchtime Launch Event. Climate Effects: The Benefits of Greening