City Matters Edition 015

Page 4 | 11-17 January 2017
News Matters
Winter Wander
stepping on to
the City’s scene
LOCALS have been
urged to pull on their
walking boots ahead of
Transport for London’s
Winter Wander
programme.
A total of 44 free
guided walks are set to
take place in the Capital
over the weekend of
28 and 29 January,
with the City featuring
prominently in the
strolls around London.
All are led by expert
guides and on average
span 1.5miles.
Booking is essential
via the TfL website.
New face in the
hotseat to lead
Asian offices
THE Corporation
has appointed Sherry
Madera, ministercounsellor
and deputy
director general at the
British Embassy in
Beijing, as the City’s
special adviser for Asia.
She will lead the
authority’s offices
in Beijing, Shanghai
(China) and Mumbai
(India) to promote
the interests of
UK-based financial and
professional services in
the region.
Airport team
is raising the
bar for fitness
STAFF PUT TO THE TEST EVERY DAY
FRESH research for 2017 has demonstrated
that airports are among the most active
workplaces in the country, rivalling postal
routes, construction sites and farms.
Chiefs at London City Airport interviewed
staff in a variety of roles, including cabin
crew, terminal managers and the on-site fire
service, surveying the equipment they use and
distance travelled on foot using pedometers.
Findings
“We knew the London City Airport team
worked hard, but even we were surprised
to find they are Olympic-level walkers,
champion weightlifters, and do enough bicep
curls to make any gym-goer sweat – every
day,” said a spokesman when analysing the
findings.
With up to 300 flights arriving and
departing every day, baggage handlers have
an important role to play in order to maintain
flight turnaround times.
On average they process in excess of seven
tonnes of hold luggage each day – more than
one tonne greater in weight than an African
elephant.
It is airport managers who clock up the
greatest mileage on foot – an impressive
9.1miles on average for each shift in and
around the 18,000sqm passenger terminal,
which is equivalent to 37 laps of an Olympic
race track.
Even at an altitude of 40,000ft cabin crew
staff manage to clock an average of three
miles during a one-and-a-half hour flight.
Equipment
Back on the ground, aircraft marshallers,
who work on the airfield come rain or shine,
direct up to 20 flights during a shift using an
array of different arm signals, meaning that
not only do they walk on average five miles,
but do 160 ‘bicep curls’ with their batons.
Lifting some of the heaviest equipment
is the on-site fire brigade, who train in
300-degree heat and wear 10kg uniforms,
sometimes training with 12kg of breathing
apparatus and 16kg fire hoses.
River be blessed
REPRESENTATIVES of Southwark Cathedral
and City church St Magnus the Martyr gathered
on London Bridge for the Blessing of the River
ceremony on Sunday, writes Lionel Wright.
The ceremony began with a procession from
St Magnus, which arrived from the north bank.
It paused midway across the bridge at the
boundary between the two parishes before the
clergy and parishioners were joined by their
Southwark Cathedral counterparts.
Although both churches have historic ties to
the Thames and London Bridge, the ceremony
only dates back to the beginning of the current
century.
Father Philip Warner, the priest of St Magnus
the Martyr some 100 years ago, was previously
posted in Serbia. He drew on the Orthodox
Christian tradition of blessing a cross by
dipping it in water, and combined this with the
ancient feast of the Baptism of Jesus by John the
Trio land New
Year’s Honours
THE City proved that three is the charm as
Square Mile figureheads featured not once,
not twice but thrice in The Queen’s New Year’s
Honours list.
George Gillon, a member of the Court of
Common Council, was recognised for services
to the Corporation and the Scottish community
in London with an MBE; while Gordon Haines
JP, a member of the Court of Aldermen, picked
up the same title for voluntary and charitable
services to the community, as well as for his
environmental conservation work in the
Capital.
Elsewhere, an employee of the Corporation,
CITYMATTERS.LONDON
Awards delight
for musical pair
A COUPLE of maestros
won big at the British
Composer Awards.
City University
London lecturer
Dr Claudia Molitor
finished with a gong in
the Sonic Art category,
while performance
officer Leo Chadburn
took home the Chamber
Ensemble prize.
The winners
were announced at a
ceremony at the British
Film Institute last
month, with their work
later broadcast on BBC
Radio 3 programme
Hear and Now.
Council pledges
£1million grant
CITY University
has bagged nearly
£1million in funding
from the Engineering
and Physical Sciences
Research Council.
The £980,000 grant
will finance a project
entitled SCAMPI:
self-care advice,
monitoring, planning
and intervention.
The scheme’s
objective is to
prototype a new
computerised toolset
to support people with
chronic conditions, and
their carers.
Baptist to create the current Thames ceremony.
Sunday’s Blessing of the River was conducted
by Dean of Southwark Cathedral Andrew Nunn
and Bishop Jonathan Clark of Croydon, which is
part of the Diocese of Southwark.
The service included readings by parishioners,
most notably Psalm 46 (‘The river makes glad
the City of God’), and prayers for those who live
and work on the Thames, as well as those who
have died on the river.
The ceremony ended with the Bishop of
Croydon casting a wooden cross into the river.
distinctive: the
annual ceremony
comes to an end
lately director of public relations Anthony
Halmos, was awarded Medallist of the British
Empire status for his efforts during the 800th
anniversary commemoration of Magna Carta.
In total, some 1,197 individuals were honoured
in this year’s list.
And the City trio were joined by yet another
recipient of early 2017 praise with ties to the
borough; recently retired police sergeant Tim
Slade bestowed The Queen’s Police Medal as
part of the new year announcement.
Dedicated
A former Essex Police officer, Tim has also
represented the Met and the Square Mile force,
and has been recognised for his “exemplary
service”, particularly for his time training police
dogs.
He, along with 20 other officers from all
ranks, will collect his medal at a dedicated
ceremony in April.