Archives for August 2011

Tomorrow we are kicking off this year's ONE Workplace Children in Need campaign with our Pedal for Pudsey challenge, cycling from BBC Television Centre to MediaCityUK, the new home of the BBC in the North. For my sins I have agreed to be part of the team!

Pedal for Pudsey is the brainchild of Richard Seago and the Workplace North team who started the ball rolling by cycling from Salford to Bristol last year. This year Richard has been even more ambitious and managed to recruit a much larger team of 20 colleagues who will attempt a 210 mile journey over four days.

I'm not sure why the thought of cycling all the way from West London to Salford appealed to me - it must have been a temporary lapse of sanity. However, tomorrow we set off on our 210-mile oddssey of exploring the byways of England by bike.

It's all in aid of a very good cause and it's great to see the huge amount of support this has already attracted on our JustGiving page which has just recorded over £15,000 of donations!

Having completed my training on Sunday by doing a 'short' training run of 50 miles, I have my bag packed, my bike cleaned and oiled, plus I have my gel saddle all ready to go. All I have to do now is eat lots of pasta!

If you are able to support us you can donate online at www.justgiving.com/pedalforpudsey2011 or donate £5 by texting PDSY50 to 70070.

Follow the team blog at https://pedalforpudsey2011.tumblr.com.

Track our progress on Facebook by searching Pedal for Pudsey. We will also be tweeting - follow @pedalforpudsey.

The new BBC Archive facility at Perivale was officially opened by BBC Director-General Mark Thompson on Thursday - the culmination of a remarkable project which now means the BBC’s 90-year-old archive is housed in a fit for purpose building, preserving it for years to come.

The move to Perivale was completed earlier this year, following a seven-month period which saw 4-million items moved to the new facility. During this period the archive team had to stay open for business. Thankfully this difficult transfer period went to plan, and without a single hitch relating to the movement of broadcast critical material.

It's a remarkable achievement and Workplace's James O'Brien had a challenging role as Project Sponsor. The complicated project required not only lots of construction work but the installation of six modern film vaults over two levels providing nearly 85,000 shelves - if they were placed end to end they would stretch for 61 miles. The facility also has climate controls to ensure the optimum temperature can be achieved to keep archive materials well protected. A video clip, with more detail on the challenging project, is available for those who can access the BBC's internal website Gateway - under Technology, Distribution & Archive.

The move has been welcomed by the BBC archive team who are now settling into their new home. Windmill Road, their old base, had been in the BBC's property portfolio since the early 1960s, but the building was no longer fit for purpose.

The team are now safe in the knowledge that the new space is specifically designed to keep each format in exactly the right conditions.

May they be very happy in their new home.