News Articles Archive - Page 95 of 152 - Cross River Partnership

As part of the Defra-funded Clean Air Villages project, a few of us from the CRP team have been out on Drummond Street, London Borough of Camden, speaking to local traders.

Cross River Partnership is working in partnership with Euston Town to support businesses on Drummond Street to make changes to their deliveries and servicing, which will help to reduce congestion and pollution in the area. We have been spending our time speaking to local restaurants to learn more about their delivery patterns and to gauge interest in a shared cargo bike scheme. A shared cargo bike could be used by the restaurants to deliver lunches to local offices. As we know, less congestion and pollution is better for everyone and can often reduce costs too!

The famous Drummond Street, running parallel to Euston Road, is mostly known for its concentration of Bangladeshi and Indian restaurants and sweet shops. We were excited to discover that the street offers a huge range of other cuisines too, from Arab to Chinese, Italian and West African too! Other interesting community spaces includes the Camden People’s Theatre, which has been creating theatre since 1994.

In early October we are organising a workshop on Drummond Street to further discuss the idea of a shared cargo bike. We hope to gather as many of the local traders in one room to gain their unique insight on local issues and potential solutions!

Please contact Clean Air Villages Project manager Kate Fenton for more details.

Freight in the City Expo is taking place on 6^th November at Alexandra Palace. There will be key decision-makers looking for the latest technology and equipment to make urban freight movements safer, cleaner, quieter and more efficient.

Topics at the exhibition will range from zero-emission zones through to autonomous last-mile deliveries and smarter ways to transport goods, from the smallest parcels to the largest aggregates.

CRP will be there; come and say hello!

The Clean Air Villages (CAV) project has been shortlisted in the category for the Best Collaboration award, for the CIEH Excellence Awards 2019.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Awards choose entries that represent the best achievements in the field of environmental health. The most innovative, engaged and successful partnership scheme or project which has demonstrated successful influence and impact on public protection.

Clean Air Villages (2018-19) is a DEFRA-funded air quality improvement scheme, which Cross River Partnership delivered with the London Boroughs of Lambeth (lead authority), Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, plus other local partners.

CRP secured funding to deliver CAV for a second year.

For further information please contact CRP’s katefenton@crossriverpartnership.org

London’s biggest Car Free Day took place on Sunday 22^nd September with Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) partner boroughs hosting over 250 multiple Play Streets and events.

Streets were transformed for people allowing local communities to experience their neighbourhoods in new and exciting ways. An elderly lady walking down Leeland Road in Ealing said, “This is brilliant for me, I don’t have to rush, it’s just lovely to have this.”

Free from car traffic, children played freely and people strolled safely down their residential streets and town centres celebrating and sampling a wide range of activities. From live music, theatre and art performances, to space hopper races, outdoor gym and yoga sessions, local people had an opportunity, perhaps for the first time, to reimagine their streets without cars.

As part of the day’s events, HSE partners collected information which will inform future events. This data along with findings from an academic partner will inspire further air quality campaigns providing local communities with opportunities to come together and shape the Healthy Streets Everyday programme. We invite you to create bigger and better healthier streets for everyone to enjoy!

For more information on HSE please visit – https://crossriverpartnership.org/projects/healthy-streets-everyday/ or contact CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday Project Manager Kiran Rao on kiranrao@crossriverpartnership.org

In early September CRP and partners were excited to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Supplier Directory to include 10 new Clean Air ‘Villages’. Businesses within these areas, as well as across London, can search the Directory to find cleaner suppliers and help reduce local air pollution. From groceries, cleaning products, office supplies, and much more, the Directory provides a platform to promote businesses delivering using electric, petrol-hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles, on bike, or on foot.

This low-emission community continues to grow, with new suppliers added each month. If you wish to be listed on the Defra-funded Directory, or know of any great businesses who may be eligible, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

If you missed our recent feature on Supercharging Electric Vehicle Fleets with GreenBiz, don’t fear, you can listen back to the webcast here to find out more about our Smart Electric Urban Logistics project. This Thursday, 26^th September, CRP will be hosting our own webinar on Smart Charging for vehicle fleets. Find out more about unravelling the ins and outs of smart charging, the challenges of integrating different software technology, the role of energy storage and smart grids in action.

There will also be a look to the future – how the transition to electric vehicles for commercial fleets will be facilitated with smart grid technology, and how viewing energy and transport holistically will be a crucial element to success.

Find out more and register online.

“Healthy Streets Everyday” is a multi (16)-borough, cross-sector project to empower boroughs, businesses and communities across London to deliver pedestrian-priority healthy streets every day, increase walking rates, and reduce emissions and exposure. It is funded via the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund and led by Cross River Partnership. The PhD study titled ‘Measuring Active Travel Uptake across Small Schemes: An evaluation of London streetscape schemes restricting car use, including the impact of scheme content and context’ is funded by Cross River Partnership. It will estimate numbers of new walk and cycle trips generated by individual schemes and across the “Healthy Streets Everyday” project, analysing the contextual factors affecting scheme impact.

The fully funded studentship will be based in the University of Westminster’s new Active Travel Academy, benefiting from the support of a multi-disciplinary group of Fellows and Members, both staff and students, as well as the immediate supervisory team. For more information and to apply please visit: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/studentships/measuring-active-travel-uptake-across-small-schemes-an-evaluation-of-london-streetscape-schemes

Applications close on Friday 4th October.

Joshua West has joined CRP in July and will be working for us as and our partners as a dedicated Communications and Business Development Officer.

Josh has previously spent over 3 years working in the higher education sector, working with Universities to embed sustainability in their estates operations and academic offering.

Please contact Joshua West for further information.

Exciting news for apprentices at Westminster City Council, CRP’s lead accountable body. As part of the Council’s ambition to deliver a world-class apprenticeship programme and to make everyone feel valued in line with the Westminster Way, Westminster’s elected Members have agreed to increase the pay rate for apprentices.

The Council will reward their existing apprentices by paying the London Living Wage to recognise the significant contribution each of them make to services across the organisation.

The salary for all apprentices will therefore increase from £8.80 per hour to a new hourly rate of £10.55 per hour backdated to 1^st August.

For further information please contact CRP’s Business Support Apprentice, Yasin Mahmood.

Last week I spent my time working on the Clean Air Villages (CAV) project at Cross River Partnership. My name is Rachael Aldridge and I’m a recent graduate from Cardiff University, where I studied Human Geography. From my course I have taken away a passion for sustainability, hence I was happy to be placed in a project which aims to make a difference in highly polluted areas throughout London. Over the week I’ve been reporting to Laura, the Business Engagement Officer for CAV.

A typical day within my week of work experience has started with meetings with various members of the team, to discover what everyone’s individual role is. This has enabled me to figure out how everyone at CRP works together towards a common goal, whilst all having different responsibilities and agendas. I was able to introduce myself to most of the team and gain a valuable insight into the workings of CRP.

Over the week, I have also taken part in business engagement for the CAV project. I’ve found this particularly interesting, as I was able to talk to different business representatives whilst thinking about potential sustainability solutions they could utilise. The areas I’ve engaged with this week are Lewisham, Shepherd’s Bush and Tooting. Here we spoke to different types of businesses, from cafes to hotels, asking them to complete a survey on the transport they’re currently using for services and deliveries. Typical questions directed at business owners include how many suppliers they have, as well as asking if they have a van or car of their own. There are definitely certain challenges to overcome in terms of business engagement. One challenge was the timings of asking questions to businesses. I’ve learnt that it’s better to catch businesses in the mornings, when they are less busy and more able to engage with the survey, meaning more reliable results can be established.

CRP then analyse this data to make suggestions to business owners, for example in the form of sharing suppliers or using cargo bikes. Throughout the week I have also attended the Hammersmith transport meeting, as well as the KCCC London networking event. Here I had the opportunity to talk to the board of the Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, who’s members were interested in how a sustainable approach could apply to their independent businesses.

I’ve learnt a lot during my time at CRP, especially about electric vehicles and cargo bikes within London and the challenges the city faces with sustainable transport initiatives. I’d like to thank Cross River Partnership for a great week and for being so welcoming towards me. I’ve gained some valuable office experience whilst learning a lot about London’s air pollution and beyond.

Archives: News Articles

Out and About in Drummond Street

Freight in the City

Clean Air Villages Project Shortlisted for an Award

Healthy Streets Everyday partners celebrate London’s biggest Car Free Day!

Expansion of the ULES Directory!

Innovative Charging Technologies for Electric Vehicle Fleets

Studentship Opportunity for Healthy Streets Everyday project

New CRP Team Member

WCC Apprentices to be paid London living wage

Work experience at Cross River Partnership