Hello Dinosaur Bridge supporter! Thank you again for the part you've played in reinstating access to the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs with a beautiful new bridge. We are delighted to report that, despite the rest of the world coming to a halt, plans for the Dinosaur Bridge have moved forward to the point we are poised to start installation as soon as work is allowed. The Bridge Committee has met essentially weekly over the past year to keep plans moving forward. The bridge has now been fabricated and is ready to be installed. Site preparation will take 4-6 weeks. At the end we will need a bit more volunteer help with final landscaping, but it will then be ready for our launch! We have had lots of professionals give generous pro bono help. Photographer and writer James Balston has chronicled the fabrication process and has written this gorgeous blogpost about it so you can get a glimpse behind the scenes. We're giving you a preview before it goes public tomorrow. We hope you enjoy it! https://thetrianglese19.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=APq4FmCViHmLj31Tpsn5Y0jZP6TqDzBHpvmp37SPqipIducmEVDZWKkeC2dF2FKmrX-QeIRNc5Nk9S1Ci-Q_GVmdbcUwXJUY0j_u8S_MtXuKNQ7xhgrTRVxPOEWK-JJekA0zZ-htizh_&postId=5987184518548874687&type=POST We look forward to giving you more updates soon! Warmest wishes, Ellinor and the Dinosaur Bridge Committee

Just a reminder that our consultation event for the #DinoBridge is TOMORROW (Sunday 28 July). If you want to find out more about the the bridge, how we came up with the design, why it will be secure and much much more (or if you just want to say hi!), come along to Brown and Green's in the Park between 12-3pm. Information will also be available in the Paxton Centre and online for a couple of weeks afterwards if you can't get to Crystal Palace on Sunday. Hope to see you there! With best wishes, from all at FCPD

Would you like to know more about our plans for the Dino Bridge? If you'd like to find out more, come along to Brown and Greens in Crystal Palace Park this coming Sunday, 28 July from 12-3pm where you can quiz the Bridge architects Tonkin Liu as well as Trustees and Board members of the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs about our plans to make the #DinoBridge a reality. We'd love to talk to you, so please do come along. If you can't make it, never fear! There will be information about the bridge design in the Paxton Centre (opposite CP train station) for 2 weeks after the event, and you can provide comments about our proposals either by replying to this email, getting in touch on social media or by visiting https://cpdinosaurs.org/bridge. Please let us have your thoughts by 11th August. Please do let us know what you think, in person or online. With very best wishes All at FCPD

EXCITING TIMES!! This is the model of the #DinoBridge design we're been working on with our architects Tonkin Liu, engineers Arup and fabricators Cake Industries. And its been selected to be displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition! We're really thrilled by it, and hope you are too - watch this space (and social media) for consultation dates in July when you'll get the chance to see the bridge designs in more detail and give your opinions. Hope you are all having a great (and not too soggy) summer. Best wishes from all at FCPD

Hello all Just an update on the last post. For most people, the money you pledged should have left your bank accounts now, either via Paypal or 'GoCardless', whichever you selected. For those of you who chose 'GoCardless' it will show on your bank statement as a Direct Debit - however please be assured that this is a one off payment. You should have received an email from Spacehive telling you that they would be collecting your money, but if you would like a receipt for your payment as well, please contact Spacehive and they will be happy to provide you with one. There are a few people who, for some reason, the usual payment mechanisms didn't work - if you are one of those people you should have had emails from Spacehive and me (Charlotte Wightwick) in order to get things sorted out. Thank you to you all for your patience in getting this sorted. Finally, thank you all again for your support for the Dino Bridge. We're making good progress in our plans for the Bridge, and we have our next FCPD Board meeting tonight when we'll be discussing next steps. My next update will give you some more details on progress! Best wishes Charlotte

You should have received an email from Spacehive today to let you know that they will be taking the money you pledged for the Dino Bridge in the next few days. Its taken a few weeks, as Spacehive wait until they know which of the Crowdfund London projects have been successful, and then we've had to do the paperwork - signing contracts etc - to help ensure that your money will be spent properly. Thank you again for pledging, and do get in touch if you'd like to chat about the Bridge or anything else Dino-related.

Happy New Year from all at FCPD! We hope you all had a 'roar-some' Christmas - we certainly did! Thank you again for your support to help us re-instate the Bridge to the Dinosaurs. Over the next few weeks and months we'll keep you updated on how its going. Do also keep an eye out on social media - we're active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @cpdinosaurs. First of all, some admin: your money won't have been taken from your bank accounts yet! Don't worry about this, we're just sorting out the paperwork behind the scenes with Spacehive and the GLA before it can be released to us. However it should happen soon, so don't be surprised when it does - we haven't forgotten you! January has been a busy time in Dino Towers - and not just with sorting the paperwork. Early in the month we found a bright and sunny (but cold!) day to do a site visit with our wonderful architects Tonkin Liu and engineers Arup, as well as our friends and colleagues from ID Verde (who run the Park for LB Bromley) - photo attached. Much debate was held about the different options for the bridge. We talked about security, accessibility, practicality for future conservation and maintenance, how it'll look from the 'shoreline' and what it'll be like when you're on the island. Following on from this, Arup and Tonkin Liu have started to work on designs - if you look on our social media, you can see two of our Trustees, Sarah and Jeremy, looking slightly puzzled when presented with the more techincal aspects of bridge design! (They're learning quickly, don't worry.) We've also started discussions with LBB and Historic England about planning and making sure that we protect the historical landscape. Finally, Alison (our new, impressive and very lovely project manager) and Jeremy got to go and hob-nob with the great and the good, and all the other successful Crowdfund London projects at City Hall last week. We're planning to stay in touch with the other projects to learn from their experiences as we get on with delivery this year! Do watch out for our future updates, and get in touch if you would like to chat about how the bridge project is going, or indeed anything else CP-Dino related - we'd love to hear from you. You can contact us via social media or by emailing us at crystalpalacedinoaurs@gmail.com