London City Helpers programme launched to help local communities in East London recover from Covid-19

The airport’s new community engagement programme to deliver education, employment and volunteering initiatives to support vulnerable local residents

Mentoring scheme established to raise disadvantaged young people’s aspirations and support their mental health and wellbeing

Volunteers from the airport delivering careers talks and skills workshops with local schools and assisting with food bank deliveries

Applications open for the latest round of funding from the airport’s £75k Community Fund

One year on from the escalation of the Covid-19 crisis and the first national lockdown, London City Airport has renewed its commitment to supporting its local communities in East London with the launch of the London City Helpers programme.

This new programme, delivered in partnership with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) and with support from other community partners, will see the airport deliver bespoke engagement activities in the community to tackle unemployment and address inequality, raise the aspiration of disadvantaged young people and support the mental health and wellbeing of residents in Newham and across East London.

A new bespoke mentoring scheme will also be launched to raise young people’s aspirations and support their mental health and wellbeing. In partnership with 15BillionEBP, volunteers from the airport will mentor Newham school students at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET) due to the impact of the pandemic, via online workshops and other engagement activities aimed at fostering resilience and motivation and breaking the cycle of deprivation and low attainment.

As a responsible employer committed to recruiting locally, the airport is also supporting students to develop their employability skills, with staff volunteering to deliver mock interviews, CV workshops and reviewing LinkedIn profiles to help prepare young people for the world of work as they leave higher education.

In addition, the airport continues to engage with local schools to facilitate online tours of the airport as well as to arrange work experience placements for young people. Last month, the airport also donated 26 laptops to the Riverside School in Barking & Dagenham to assist disadvantaged students with their online learning.

Airport staff are also volunteering in the community to support local residents in their time of need, including partnering with Newham-based food banks to help deliver food parcels and hot meals to local residents shielding as a result of COVID-19.

On Friday, the airport’s Chief Executive Robert Sinclair spent time volunteering with Year 9 students from the Willowfield School in Walthamstow to talk about his career journey and the qualifications and skills that local employers are looking for.

Robert Sinclair, London City Airport Chief Executive, said:

“We have a long-established record of supporting our local communities and I am really pleased that our new London City Helpers programme has been launched to help young people, in particular, achieve their potential.

Looking ahead, we are hopeful that international travel can safely restart this summer. And when it does, just as we have in the past, we want to work with our local partners to ensure that we reflect the vibrancy and diversity of East London by ensuring that as many of the new jobs we create go to local people.”

Ian Parkes, CEO of East London Business Alliance (ELBA), said:

“London City Airport is one of the most significant employers in East London and we have worked with them to support the local community over many years. We have worked to promote local employment at the airport, build employability skills of local people and to support students to get interested in and pursue science, engineering and technology careers. In this last COVID hit year, despite the downturn in the aviation sector, LCY has been amazing, they have continued to work with us and other local organisations to support the community through their London City Helpers programme for 2021 – helping foodbanks, giving careers insights to school students, and exploring work experience. They have also donated surplus laptops to local schools to help narrow the digital divide faced by local families.”

Glynis Webb, Community Foodbank Coordinator, RDLAC, said

“I would like to say a massive thank you to London City Airport staff for their volunteering efforts during this challenging period for our local community. Our Foodbank has seen an increase in users since the start of COVID-19 in the Royal Docks and it has been great to receive their support”.

The London City Helpers community engagement programme builds on the airport’s strong track record of supporting the local community. Over the past four years, staff have participated in volunteering activities across East London focused on STEM, wellbeing, equality and biodiversity, investing over 7,300 hours of their time. As part of its current investment programme, the airport has also spent over £7 million on education, employment and community investment initiatives in the local area.

As well as the new initiatives, a key element of the programme is the airport’s £75k Community Fund, which continues to allocate funding to local groups and charitable organisations to enable significant and positive change in the communities surrounding the airport. The window is currently open for local groups to apply for the next round of grants, with applications invited by the deadline of Friday 28^th May.

In addition, the airport’s Women in Aviation programme established in 2018 has been undertaken virtually this year due to social distancing requirements, with a focus on ‘the sustainability of the passenger end-to-end journey’. But the programme has once again engaged 10 local schools and 200 female students in workshops designed to motivate, inspire and educate about the career opportunities available in aviation and the importance of STEM skills. The finale of this year’s programme will be taking place on Wednesday 28^th April and will see female school students deliver virtual group presentations to a panel of judges comprised of role models from the airport and the local community.

London City remains the only airport in London to be accredited as both a London Living Wage employer and certified by the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard.

Notes to Editors

More information on 15Billion EBP can be found here: https://15billionebp.org/

More information on ELBA can be found here: https://elba-1.org.uk/

In January, the airport announced that £40,000 of funding had been awarded to 14 local groups and community organisations in the latest round of grants from the airport’s £75k Community Fund.

Each successful applicant received grants of up to £3,000 to deliver projects focused on youth employment and training, physical and mental health and wellbeing, homelessness, food poverty, loneliness and isolation.

Further information on the airport’s Community Fund and how to apply for funding can be found here:

https://www.londoncityairport.com/corporate/responsible-growth/community-fund/

For more information contact Liam McKay, Director of Corporate Affairs: liam.mckay@londoncityairport.com

Paul Cremer

My name is Paul Cremer, and this marks my 42nd year working within the business and general aviation industry. Over this time, I’ve had the privilege of overseeing a diverse array of sector activities, ranging from aircraft charter and management to air ambulance services, ground operations, air traffic control, airport management, technology implementation, and the outsourcing services I currently manage.

In my role focused on delivering advisory, technology, and outsourcing services to aviation customers, I handle a wide spectrum of responsibilities. This includes overseeing International Trip Support, Operations Control Centre Services (OCC), Continuing Airworthiness Management Service (CAMO), Airworthiness Reviews, ARC Services, Aircraft Delivery and Re-delivery Support Services, Maintenance Coordination Services including AOG, Tech Ops (Maintenance Control Centre), and managing myairops software products. As the Head of Aviation Delivery, I lead the customer-facing delivery of Technology & Outsourcing products and services for the market, drawing upon a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and industry connections within Gama Aviation’s Technology and Outsourcing Strategic Business Unit.

My journey into Business and General Aviation began during my teenage years while still in school. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into the industry, starting at a flying club, and later working at the Air Traffic Services Unit at Blackbushe Airport. There, I maintained the ATC Movement Logs in the Control Tower during weekends, solidifying my passion for aviation. Upon completing my schooling, I seized opportunities at Fairoaks Airport, where I began as Ground Crew while pursuing my Aerodrome Flight Information Service Officer’s license. Advancements in my career led me to the role of Air Traffic Services Manager.

Since joining Gama Aviation in 1996, I’ve held various positions, including Operations Manager (Post Holder), Operations & Commercial Manager, Commercial Manager, Operations Delivery Manager, Head of Business Aviation Delivery, and currently, Head of Aviation Delivery. This role encompasses Gama Aviation Group’s Gama Aviation, myairops, and FlyerTech companies.

In 2023, I was honoured to be invited to serve as the Chair of the Operations Working Group for the British Business & General Aviation Association. This opportunity allows me to contribute to industry initiatives within BBGA’s membership of nearly 200 industry companies, focusing on challenges such as regulatory compliance, Air Services Agreements, technological advancements, workforce development, operational matters, and sustainability.

Marc Bailey

Marc Bailey has spent his entire career in aviation and has worked in most areas of Aviation Services with scheduled airlines, MRO’s, military contract support and latterly with associations, government, and its agencies.

Marc represents your position in Europe (even post Brexit) – as President of ECOGAS (European Council of General Aviation Support) which maintains a voice with EASA. All the major member states are represented on the ECOGAS board. With EASA restructuring its meetings with industry, ECOGAS is now well positioned to represent our position in all areas following industry partnerships with the European Independent Maintenance Group and with ARPAS the new drone and autonomous association.

Marc is chair of the UKASF (United Kingdom Airworthiness Strategic Forum) as part of an initiative to develop Aviation Services across all aviation activities. The UKASF pulls together airlines, MROs, Rotary, Drones, and commercial GA bodies to work with CAA and DfT. The objective is for industry to take the lead to drive strategic issues to benefit all parties. We are well positioned after four years to continue our good work and with the re-established role of Chief Surveyor in the CAA we have a good focal point to do this.

Marc chairs the CAA Finance and Services Forum which allows industry in the UK to discuss in the financial plans for the CAA and the value for money delivered by those funds paid by industry. This is a new and valuable new platform for all parties.

Under recent developments Marc has formed an alliance with, ARPAS, AOPA, BHA and BBGA so that we can strengthen our voice under a joint ‘GA 4 Biz’ banner. This alliance is working to do everything possible to represent the industry’s business interests with UK government and to help realise the Government’s desire to make UK General Aviation a Global Leader in a post Brexit environment. GA4Biz – GA4Biz

The next Generation initiatives with industry and government have continued to develop with the retention platform now evolving into the “Aviation Skills Recruitment Platform”. The platform now not only offers a vehicle for those offering and seeking posts in aviation, it also provides pathways with its TalentView portion seeking to provide pathways for new entrants into our sector. The recruitment platform is being further developed to include training opportunities across a wide range of providers, from government agencies through academic bodies. Getting our next generation activities right in the UK over the next couple of years is our single most important issue which we in aviation must grab with both hands. Marc is playing a central role to help develop many of these channels.

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