The Information Point on the F10 Bridge held a special place in Park Champion volunteers’ hearts. From when we started running the mobility service from under a tent outside of it in 2014, to when we took over the running of it a year later, it was a spritual home for a lot of us.
It saw many changes over the years - external decoration, new ramps, air conditioning installed. This document attempts to record the building and our use of it over the 8 years that it existed.
Chapter 1
2012 - 2014
Bridge F10 before the Info Point was installed
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| During the Games of 2012 and immediately after, the Info Point did not exist. It was installed during 2014 as the South Park unveiling completed the full re-opening of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Games.
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August 2012 - Mobility Buggies used during the Games, parked roughly where the Info Point was built.
September 2012 - Stratford Gate during the Paralympic games
May 2013 - Constructing the new Stratford Gate entrance
June 2013 - Contruction continues. What happened to that "Welcome to..." structure, I don't know!
October 2013 - Looking good now
January 2014 - Almost ready to open
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Chapter 2
2014
Info Point - Early Days
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| Initally, after opening in 2014, the Information Point was manned by LLDC-employed contractors and the Park Champions ran a mobility service from a tent just outside. It was to be another year before we persuaded LLDC that we could run the Info Point as well. Here are some early images of the Info Point:
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April 2014 - South Park opens, completing the Park's opening. This is my earliest photo of the Info Point! It must have been built between the January photo above and this April one.
April 2014 - Opening day for the South Park. Busy! Park Champions mobility can just be made out at the side of the Info Point.
September 2014 - Invictus Games. Park Champions resting at what will become our new home soon.
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Chapter 3
2015
Info Point - We Take Over!
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| The very first day that Park Champions looked after the Info Point was 20th April 2015. For the first few days, I and another duty manager were both around to make sure that things went well and any issues were dealt with. We just about coped - it was all very new!
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20th April 2015 - Our very first Info Point volunteers shift.
25th April 2015 - Happy buggy customers!
May 2015 - First "Where's Wally" Day. Park Champions join in vigourously.
June 2015 - It didn't take very long for us to get our 1000th buggy passenger.
July 2015 - Sadly, we did get the rare case of vandalism at the Info Point. This was the most destructive - a bottle thrown at a window in the early hours of one morning.
July 2015 - Great Newham Run. There's no better place on the Park for people-watching!
July 2015 - Anniversary Games. A full Park Champion turnout for this event...
July 2015 - Anniversary Games. ...though the weather wasn't always sunny!
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Chapter 4
2016 - 2017
Settled in and working well
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| After the excitement of moving into the Info Point and a busy first Summer season, we settled very comfortably into our new home, taking on everything that could be thrown at us.
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April 2016 - Visitors from Denmark. We avoided talking about King Alfred defeating the Vikings and Alfred's Meadow...
August 2016 - The first West Ham home game. Park Champions joined in the fun and had a great time.
October 2016 - By now, we'd pretty much worn-out our accessible ramp, so LLDC kindly re-surfaced it. We wore that one out too! (See below)
October 2016 - Our mobility service went from strength to strength, frequently being completely sold out.
June 2017 - Park Champions programme presented with an "Investing in Volunteers" award. We celebrated in the Info Point.
September 2017 - Having worn out our second wooden ramp, LLDC decides to challenge us with another one...
December 2017 - The Info Point was open in all weathers, including snow.
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Chapter 5
2017 - 2019
Looking Pretty!
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| Having been painted plain black ever since its installation, LLDC decided to make the Info Point prettier and more inviting by applying colourful cladding, installing air conditioning and re-modelling the inside to provide a separate small office space. It was lovely! While it was done, we worked from the Aquatics Centre "Welcome Zone".
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14th December 2017 - External cladding starts to be applied.
15th December 2017 - Halfway there.
16th December 2017 - Finished!
February 2018 - Snow again. The Info Point really stands out.
March 2018 - Snow. Park Champion weapons...
March 2018 - Snow. ... and target!
March 2018 - West Ham home games always saw lots of passing customers.
June 2018 - We were never slow to take advantage of a nice day.
July 2018 - One of our stranger requests. A "special" World Cup football had been kicked into a canal. We managed to retrieve it the following day and the young owner was very grateful.
January 2019 - Park Champion Peter braves the Winter air to help his customers.
March 2019 - Park Champions organising school guided tours starting at the Info Point.
July 2019 - Happy Park Champions!
August 2019 - Our new home in the Pavilion being constructed next door to the Info Point.
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Chapter 6
2019 - 2021
Covid Lockdowns and Location Change!
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| Having been in the Info Point since 2015, we were to move into the new Pavilion building. More than a little sadness at the prospect as we had become very happy in our "posh garden shed".
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October 2019 - Position of our new home in the Pavilion. Still under construction.
New Year's Day 2020 - Park Champions ready for action, all of them current or past duty managers!
January 2020 - "You want us to WALK?!!!"
January 2020 - Through the glass darkly.
April 2020 - And then Covid hit. The Info Point was closed for some time.
August 2020 - Open again, thank goodness!
September 2020 - Our new home rather dwarfs our old one.
September 2020 - Masks would be required for some time, well into 2022 in fact.
November 2020 - Just before the 2nd lockdown closed the Info Point again.
May 2021 - Info Point re-opens after the 2nd lockdown.
July 2021 - Site of new Info Point within the Pavilion. Almost ready for us.
September 2021 - This is the last image I have of a Park Champion at the old Info Point because by...
December 2021 - ... we were well and truly installed in our new home.
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Chapter 7
2021 - 2022
The Long Goodbye
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| Now we were installed in the Pavilion Info Point, the old building had to be removed to make way for the re-modelling of the F10 bridge as part of the East Bank landscaping works. It was not a quick process, sadly.
First, the ramp was broken up and removed then the colourful branding was taken off. Then the building needed to be split into two halves ready for transport off the Park very early in the morning on the 31st March 2022.
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22nd November 2021 (Morning) - The concrete ramp starts to be removed. At least we didn't wear it out.
22nd November 2021 (Afternoon) - The ramp is just rubble now.
21st December 2021 - Our colourful branding gets removed from the building
30th March 2022 - The building is split into two halves ready for transport
31st March 2022 - The building is lifted by crane onto flatbed trucks and removed.
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