David Sharpe Receives Community Hero Award

02 Jul 2010

At an awards reception in London on Monday 28th June 2010, the Development Trusts Association presented awards to eight individuals from private sector organisations who have supported their local development trust.

Development trusts occupy the place where the business, public, community and voluntary sectors meet. This is a position of unique strength, but also means that for trusts to realise their full potential they must build productive partnerships and active alliances with all these sectors.

David Sharpe, Divisional Director (London) for the Merlin Entertainments Group was one of the recipients of a Community Hero Award. David in his current role is responsible for looking after The London Eye, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE London Aquarium and the London Dungeon.

Since his arrival on the South Bank as Managing Director of the London Eye almost 10 years ago, David and his team have gone out of their way to ensure that the local neighbourhoods benefit from hosting the London Eye – the country’s most popular paid for visitor attraction. In 2009 the London Eye donated in excess of £600,000 to local projects including grants to a range of local groups providing training in creative media, mentoring and supporting young people, developing sports leaders, providing community parks and gardens, providing musical instruments and tuition to a local primary school, training in First Aid and supporting the Waterloo Carnival and Thames Festival.

This year, 200 free flights aboard the London Eye have been given to Coin Street Community Builders to allow those attending the family and children’s centre and other community programmes to see the neighbourhood from a different perspective.
David has given substantial amounts of his personal time to understanding the area and its needs and was recently elected Chairman of the South Bank Employers Group, an unusual development trust in that all of its members are local employers.