NEWS & EVENTS

Once again, APTG participated in the TourEast East London Week. This year, each afternoon, APTG offered a FREE guided walk in a different part of East London. To help us on our way, the Docklands Light Railway donated 12 free tickets each day.

The walks were:
Wed: Trading Places in Canary Wharf - from Port to Penthouse, led by Mary Sewell
Thur: Bridget Jones's Big Knickers, led by Simon Rodway
Fri: Island Exploration - Discover the Isle of Dogs, led by Diane Burstein
Sat: Royal Docks, ExCeL and the Thames Barrier Park, led by Mary Sewell
Sun: Deptford - Sailors, Shipwrights and Sovereigns, led by Jackie Stater
The walks programme attracted overseas visitors and local residents.

If you have a group who would like a guided tour of East London, please consult our list of East London guides or search for a guide.

Our thanks to Time Out, for publicising the APTG walks; and the Docklands Light Railway, the Britain London Visitor Centre, the City Information Office and Greenwich Tourist Information Centre, who displayed our posters and distributed our leaflets.

Blue Badge Guides lead fight to save London's free public loos - part 2

Once again London's Blue Badge guides have shown the way to improve London as a great tourist destination.

A year ago London's Blue Badge guides started a campaign to improve the availability and quality of London's public loos (see below). Local councils had been shutting public conveniences or privatising them, happy to see Victorian 'loos' converted to things like nightclubs and bars. Blue Badge guides argued that this was unwelcoming to tourists, as well as locals such as OAPs and parents with young families. It was also petty and short-sighted, especially as London will be hosting the 2012 Olympics.

Last week the London Development Agency (affiliated to the Mayor of London) published a research document agreeing with all our points and calling for more free public loos.

A step in the right direction for tourism, London, and London's Blue Badge guides!

Blue Badge Guides lead fight to save London's free public loos

Blue Badge guides in London are fighting to get Westminster Council to reverse their recent decision to privatise the public conveniences around Parliament Square.

We feel this is unjust and penalises women, children, OAPs, as well as a vital source of foreign exchange - tourists.

Parliament Square is a World Heritage Site, with some of the world's most recognisable and historic buildings. For the Council to privatise the Parliament Square loos is a cynical attempt to milk the visitor, as the 50p entrances is exorbitant.

Not only does this raise public health issues (we all know where men can go) it penalises women (who can't go). 50p to spend a penny!

Free, well maintained and attended public conveniences are a 'given' for a global city like London.

Westminster Council is not alone in privatising, if not totally shutting down, its public loos. The Corporation of London has until recently also been shutting public conveniences, claiming that the public can always visit a coffee bar.

There is now evidence that the Corporation may be about to reverse this trend and if so, London's Blue Badge guides can claim some of the credit.

Our continual lobbying throughout 2005 has resulted in coverage for the issue in The Times and The Standard and exposure on BBC TV and local London radio.

A lack of free, clean and safe loos encourages not just tourists to visit and contribute to local economies but also wide variety of locals to visit London's centre and enjoy shopping and theatre.

Help us Save London's Loos.

Help us reverse this act of gross public indecency.