Our Community
Tideway’s community legacy commitment was to give back to the communities in which we work through community partnerships, volunteering and charitable donations.
Our community investment programme has aimed to support communities along the tunnel route and a series of partnerships has helped Londoners to reconnect with the River Thames and to green their local communities.
Click on the icons to get more info on our programme, which has now completed. Below the map you can see some overall impacts, along with case studies and more.
Acton Scout Hut
We funded a refurbishment of the building, which is next to our Acton site, including a repaired roof, new toilet facilities and flooring. The building is used by about 1,750 people a year and our site team supported the work through volunteering and STEM engagement sessions on construction and engineering careers. The Scouts County Leader said: “Tideway have just helped the next generation of Acton to continue to attend a Scout hut where they will learn new skills for life.
Sands End Arts & Community Centre
Tideway funded the rebuild of this community centre, which reopened in 2022. The award-winning sustainable building has a main hall and function rooms providing a wide range of activities and events. It also has a community café, for which Tideway donated much of the equipment. We also provided volunteers, including on the Trustee Board. Cllr Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said: “I’m really pleased the new centre is already becoming a destination spot and adding to our residents’ quality of life.”
Sands End Associated Projects In Action
Tideway gave SEAPIA a £5,000 emergency Covid-19 support donation to help pay for staff time and materials as the charity gave out activity packs for the most vulnerable of children and their families during the lockdown. As the centre prepared to re-open, the BMB team installed a drinking water fountain, cleared gardens and re-decorated. SEAPIA Manager Julie Cavanagh said: “The support from Tideway, as always, is invaluable. The teams did a fantastic job and the donation will enable us to keep supporting disadvantaged families in the local area – thank you so much”. In 2023 Tideway gave SEAPIA a community energy grant to help with rising energy costs.
Hurlingham Academy
Tideway West contractor BMB funded a DEC (Design Engineer Construct) teacher at the school for two years to help encourage pupils to think about a career in engineering, as part of the Class of Your Own 'Adopt a School' programme. BMB volunteers also delivered a number of workshops. Emily Sharp, the new teacher delivering the DEC syllabus, said: “The kids will come out of it with a much better idea of what kind of roles there are in construction. The support from the engineers is invaluable, their real-life experiences really do inspire”.
Bishop Creighton House
This community centre provides a meeting place and services for the community and Tideway volunteers from our Hammersmith site renovated the centre’s garden, which had fallen into disrepair. The team spent several weeks cutting back weeds and vegetation, as well as repairing fence panels, jet-washing the paving, repainting the brickwork and repotting plants. Joy Wilson from BCH said: “We are all very much enjoying the improvement to our garden and have benefitted hugely from the partnership with Tideway.” Tideway’s support for the 2022-23 Our Space fund gave the centre’s Gardening Club in Hammersmith, funding to teach people with learning disabilities how to grow nutritious ingredients to support independent living and in 2023 Tideway gave BCH a community energy grant to help with rising energy costs.
Wandsworth Community Fund
We launched a fund in 2021 with support from Wandsworth Council which helped five charities deliver programmes supporting young people, families in food poverty and vulnerable groups across the borough. They included Bags of Taste, a social enterprise which helps people in poverty to achieve an improved and healthier diet on a low budget. Cllr Kim Caddy of Wandsworth Council said: “We were delighted to support Tideway in developing this fund. This will make a real difference to local communities in Wandsworth.”
Westminster Police Cadets
We supported the cadets with funding for stand up paddle boards and safety equipment and a summer environment programme, which involved ‘paddle and picks’ on the boards and kayaking and camping trips linked to Duke of Edinburgh awards. Jon Marsden, Met Police Youth Engagement Officer, said: "Tideway funding has helped us get out on the canals and river to pick out rubbish and to buy camping equipment for DofE adventures. A big thank you to Tideway from all the cadets."
Lots Road World’s End Community Hub
From 2017 to 2021 Tideway funded the four-year lease costs for the centre, which provides vital services to the Worlds End estate, near our Cremorne Wharf site. In 2021 we also funded one of the centre’s pilot outreach programmes, working with about 25 young residents at risk of gangs and drugs involvement. The successful nine-week programme looked at alternative lifestyle choices and explored potential employment routes as well as other social projects. In 2023 we gave the centre a community energy grant to help with escalating gas and electricity bills.
Westminster Boating Base
Westminster Boating Base, on the other side of the Thames to our Kirtling Street and Heathwall sites, runs sailing, powerboating and kayaking courses for young and old. About 100 students from Harris Westminster Sixth Form Academy completed a boating course thanks to Tideway funding. Peter Croucher, a teacher from Harris Westminster, said: “Almost 40 per cent of our students are on pupil premium and a course like this would normally not be possible for us, so to offer this course as an alternative to the usual mix of activities is brilliant. To see the look on their faces when they were out on the water was special.” In 2023 Tideway also gave a community energy grant it help the charity with rising energy costs.
Falconbrook Primary School
The school is close to our Falconbrook Pumping Station site and the nearby Winstanley Estate. We funded a new sensory room to give a safe and calming space for pupils; we funded a new canopy for the playground to provide a dry and safe outdoor environment; we provided new computers to help pupils with their learning, which proved vital during the pandemic; and we moved the ‘living wall’ from our King George’s Park site to give the school an attractive and educational feature. Recently, a refurbishment was funded (painting of stairwells and corridors) at Falconbrook Primary School as a community investment to support the school as work at Falconbrook Pumping Station nears completion.
Lambeth Community Fund
In 2022 we worked with Integrate CIC, which manages Lambeth’s Voluntary and Community Sector, to create a fund for local organisations. It funded four programmes helping young people gain confidence and learn new skills and helping low income families to get through the cost-of-living crisis. This included Waterloo Community Theatre re-starting weekly drama and theatre-making sessions for seven to 16-year-olds and sustainability charity The Re-Makery running workshops for local residents on DIY issues such as draft busting, rainwater collection and planter construction.
Lord Mayor’s Appeal
Tideway supported the appeal’s City Giving Day every year between 2016 and 2022. In 2017 staff raised £17,000 for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and staff charities with a SUP half marathon along the Thames, finishing at our Chambers Wharf site. We have given a donation to the appeal annually and entered teams in fundraisers the Tour de City and the City Giving Day quiz. We also held volunteering activities on the day itself to highlight our responsible business credentials. William Russell, City of London Lord Mayor 2019-21, said: “Thank you for your support, with your help we are fulfilling our aim to create ‘A Better City for All’”.
TutorMate, Tower Hamlets
Many children don’t regularly read with adults in their homes. To help tackle this, Tideway is providing funding and volunteers for online programme TutorMate - 13 Tideway staff are reading remotely for 30 minutes a week with children at Bangabandhu Primary School in Tower Hamlets. Emma Bell, of Innovations for Learning UK, said: “We are delighted that Tideway has agreed to support us. Those who struggle with reading are falling even further behind and will benefit enormously from this additional reading practice.”
Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre
For six years Tideway helped to fund the centre’s summer programme, in which about 200 young people from Tower Hamlets go on a week-long course offering a range of fun outdoor activities including kayaking, raft building, orienteering and high ropes. Feedback from participants in 2022 showed 98% increased their confidence; 48% felt healthier and 51% said they made new friends. Almost 70 of those who took part gained accredited certificates in sailing and paddle sports. In 2018 Tideway staff also raised more than £36,000 to fund a new volunteering and fundraising post at SBOAC through the Oarsome Challenge charity row.
Illuminate Rotherhithe and Bermondsey
For three years Tideway funded this community festival, which showcases the history of the Thames and celebrates migration and the river’s vital role in the area’s development. Locals come together for lantern-making workshops and then take part in a procession which in 2022 attracted 800 to 1,000 people. Annabel Stockman said: “The aim of the festival is to encourage our communities to be involved, to participate, to collaborate and to mix. We are extremely grateful to Tideway for its very generous contribution.”
Downside Fisher Youth Club
The club supports socially excluded children and young people from Bermondsey, helping them to fulfil their potential through sport, educational, arts and other activities. Tideway funded a refurbishment of the reception area, with volunteers completing some of the work. We also donated five laptops for the charity’s after-school homework club, funded paddles and buoyancy aids for the club’s fleet of kayaks and in 2023 gave a community energy grant to help with rising energy bills.
London Design and Engineering University Technical College
Tideway has been a founding sponsor of the college, which was opened in 2016. We support the college in a number of ways. Our engineers and other technical experts provide regular mentoring sessions for the students, telling them about their careers and the skills they have used to secure and then thrive in their roles. We attend careers fairs and give talks about the Tideway project, so that the students understand the project’s benefits for London and the types of careers available in major infrastructure projects. And we support at a senior level, with two of our Directors volunteering their time to sit on the LDE UTC Board.
South London Cares
South London Cares, which connected older people in Lambeth and Southwark with younger professionals to tackle loneliness and isolation, was Tideway’s elected staff charity partner from 2017 to 2022. We funded a number of its programmes, including: a monthly social club at Blackfriars running themed sessions including arts and ‘chair yoga’ classes from 2017 to 2019; its 2021 winter party which was SLC’s first face-to-face large event since the pandemic; and a £2,000 donation to its 2022 Christmas appeal which supported a monthly walking boxing club in Lambeth for 10 younger and older neighbours. We also gave a £5,000 emergency grant during the pandemic. In total we donated or fundraised more than £48,000 and volunteered about 250 hours during the partnership. Imogen Duffin from SLC said: “With your support, we have connected thousands of older and younger neighbours - this would not have been possible without Tideway's generosity and support.”
St Martin-in-the Fields School for Girls
Tideway supported the school through its partnership with staff charity partner Envision. We mentored 21 students in the charity’s Community Apprentice programme, with 18 getting through to the final stage which included a personal reference which evidenced their skills development. At the end fo the programme, 100% of the participants said they have a better understanding of the competencies valued by employers; 83% feel that they have become better at team working; 100% feel more motivated to take action in future. Norman Doyle, Director of the Sixth Form at St Martin’s said of one participant: “She’s not doing that great with her studies and is consistently underperforming, so it’s great to see her applying herself so well to the Envision project.”
Southwark Community Enhancement Fund (S106)
Tideway supports the running of this £1 million fund, which was set up as part of the project’s planning conditions and pays grants to local community organisations to deliver benefits targeted for residents living around the Chambers Wharf site. We have a representative on the panel which decides on grant applications and we promote the fund and the projects it funds via our Community Liaison Working Group. Projects funded to date include increased planting of vegetation and greenery in the local area, contributions towards various children and toddlers play activities and community outings for local residents.
Cody Dock
Cody Dock is a community-based arts and creative quarter on the banks of the River Lea which aims to help people access the Lower Lea’s environment and celebrate the area’s heritage. The development includes a visitor centre and café, exhibition space, studios and workshop spaces and dry dock facilities. The Tideway project has supported them in a number of ways: through in-kind donations and support from the FLO logistics teams, donating stone paving for their new wash block and transporting a ‘Talk To Me’ sculpture to the hub; through a 2023 community energy grant to support them with rising energy costs; and through team volunteering sessions.
Barn Elms Sports Centre
Tideway funded new state-of-the-art changing rooms and a fitness studio at the sports centre, which is in the playing fields close to our Barn Elms site and we oversaw the work until we handed the complex back to the local council. The new facilities offered visitors bigger and better gym space plus a new café. Cllr Steffi Sutters of Wandsworth Council said: "Offering first class facilities can only help to encourage more people, especially younger people, to get involved in sports and hopefully spur them on to become the sports and Olympic stars of the future.”
River Reconnection Partnerships
We've partnered with London charities to support our legacy commitments to inspire people to take part in river activities and attend river-based events.
Click here to learn more about our River Reconnection Partnerships.
Our Space Award
36 London-based projects designed to ‘clean and green’ the city have been given the go-ahead following a new funding commitment from Tideway.
Creekside Discovery Centre
The Creekside Discovery Centre next to Deptford Creek is situated between Tideway’s Greenwich and Deptford sites. Tideway provided the centre with a two-year grant to deliver new activities, including mapping local plants and wildlife and a new Science Club for 11 to 16-year-olds; followed in 2023 with a further grant to allow more wildlife mapping volunteers to be trained and to fund a schools programme around the water cycle.
Click here to learn more about the Creekside Discovery Centre.
The Lenox Project
The Lenox Project is a charity launched to build a full-size replica of the Lenox, a naval ship that was built in 1678 in Deptford and was the first of Charles II’s thirty ships, and which aims to increase public awareness of the history of Deptford, the Royal Dockyard, and the area’s contribution to the development of shipbuilding.
In 2019 Tideway supported a community programme which included a family fun day at the Deptford Lounge which gave more than 1,200 people the chance to build and decorate a large-scale model ship, explore historic maps of the local area and find out about the former Royal Dockyard. There were also ‘Hidden Deptford’ talks at St Nicholas Church, including one by award-winning historian and novelist David Davies.
London Youth Rowing Olympic Park
The Tideway project supported London Youth Rowing through several programmes to get young Londoners from lower socio-economic areas to be active and improve their wellbeing, culminating in the Active Row programme between 2017 and 2021.
To leave an additional physical legacy for LYR, we funded storage containers that house the charity’s paddle equipment at their new base at the Olympic Park in Stratford. The containers were then painted by volunteers and in full operation in 2022.
To learn more about our partnership with LYR, click here
Support for the homeless – The 999 Club
Tideway East teamed up with charity the 999 Club in Deptford to create a five-week Get Ready for Work programme for homeless or vulnerable people.
The 999 Club is a safety net for those at real risk of homelessness. Their confidence is low, prospects often bleak and the club is where they can get hot food, medical support and advice. The course included staff talks, a first aid course, CV workshops, mock interviews and staff interaction and mentoring, building up club members’ confidence. CVB also raised funds for the charity.
Wayne Carrington, who participated in the course, said: “Respect was always shown to the trainees no matter what race, gender and background. It was a totally amazing experience for me.”
For more information, click here
Supporting local Brownie and Guide groups
The Tideway East and Chambers Wharf site team regularly hosted girls aged 7-17 from local Brownie and Guide groups from Greenwich, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham.
At STEM events the girls learnt about design, engineering and environmental issues from project staff whilst having loads of fun, getting to take the items they made home to share with their families. Tideway East also hosted a Women in Construction event to inspire and challenge the thinking of the girls into considering future STEM subject choices at schools and universities and ultimately inspire career choices made by the next generation.
Canary Wharf College
The Tideway East team has supported the Canary Wharf College Multi-Academy Trust since the start of the project. Elected as a parent governor, a staff member became Trust Chair, representing a large investment of time. Visits and events for pupils have been held at our Chambers Wharf site, on the river on boat trips, on the Thames foreshore with our charity partner Thames21, and at the Trust schools.
Breaking Barriers
Breaking Barriers is the ‘life skills’ programme run by Tideway’s charity partner London Youth Rowing (LYR) which combines rowing and mentoring to enable young people to flourish as they transition from school into the wider world. Alongside Tideway’s support for LYR’s Active Row programme, Tideway East supported Breaking Barriers from 2015 to 2020.
Staff mentored and challenged children from schools in Southwark, Newham, Greenwich and Lewisham with advice on communication, team building and conversations around their future.
For more information on Tideway East and Breaking Barriers, including two successful case studies from the young people supported, see pages 8 and 9 of the Tideway/LYR partnership report.
St George’s Primary School Nine Elms
Tideway’s Central team helped build a ‘happiness garden’ at St George’s Primary School in Battersea. The Ferrovial Laing O'Rourke joint venture provided £1,000 of gardening materials and tools to help with planting, and volunteers from the Kirtling Street, Albert Embankment and Chelsea sites helped plant, paint and tidy up the area, making it accessible for teachers and children.
To learn more, click here.
Tideway’s community investment programme has supported thousands of people across London.
Tideway has supported hundreds of organisations through investment and staff volunteering.
Our staff have given more than 33,000 hours of their time to support our communities.
River reconnection partnerships
Tideway has partnered with a number of London charities to support our legacy commitment to inspire people to take part in river activities and attend river-based events. This also helps to deliver Tideway’s wider vision for the project – to get Londoners reconnected with the Thames.
Case Studies and Downloads:
The Our Space Award - Greening London's Community Spaces
SEACC - Supporting All Residents
Wandsworth Community Fund Impact Report
Tideway Legacy Fund - Supporting People With Convictions
Lambeth Community Fund
SEACC Youth Programme: Impact Report
Charitable Giving
Staff from across the Tideway project raise money for local and national good causes through charitable fundraising. Charities supported by the Tideway team are Time and Talents and The Felix Project, with a number of other charities supported by site teams.
The project comes together for major fundraising initiatives such as the Oarsome Challenge, which raised more than £100,000 in three years, and our 2020 Make a Difference campaign, which raised more than £20,000 to support more than 50 different organisations during the pandemic.
Read our Sponsorhip, Community Investment and Charitable Giving Policy by clicking here.