I
joined colleagues from Transport for London at a Changing Places volunteer day
which offered a chance to see the Olympic Park nearing completion, and to work
together to improve the walking and cycling routes in the area. The main
purpose of the day was to support cross-team working whilst improving the local
environment.
It was
a gloriously sunny day when we arrived at Pudding Mill Lane DLR station.
Sunhats, glasses and sun-cream were applied liberally before walking up
to the
Greenway to the ViewTube, a café and teaching space cleverly made from
recycled
shipping containers. The Greenway is a fantastic stretch of walking and
cycling
route which forms part of the London 2012
Games
Walking and cycling routes
After admiring the improvements, we
were
given a general overview of the venues on the Olympic Park and worked
for the
rest of the day in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium
People
were assigned different roles including litter picking, building
bat boxes to be hung nearby, watering plants and planting
small trees.
Over
the day as a group, we built about 20 bat boxes, dug 50 holes in very
solid
soil and planted 50 trees. We also helped upkeep the View Tube garden
and made trellis to be
transported
to the Channelsea area of the Greenway.
We left with a sense of
achievement, feeling
satisfied we’d made a difference to the local walking and cycling
routes. But perhaps more importantly
we also
got to work as a team, pick up new skills and complete a
task entirely different to those we’re used to.
Find out more about the work under way to encourage more walking and cycling
in the
lead up to, during and after the London 2012 Games as part of the Active
Travel
programme and the Changing
Places
programme
