South Western Railway has this year provided close to £300,000 to Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) and station adopters to help further involve local groups in the railway.
This year, SWR has expanded its funding of Community Rail Partnerships, not for profit organisations setup to promote sustainable transport, encourage diversity and support social and economic development, to three additional groups. In addition to the usual funding provided to eight CRPs to employ a part time officer, SWR has also divided an additional project fund between them and another three CRPs.
This has now meant North Downs Line CRP (Gatwick to Reading) and the Surrey Hills to South Downs CRP (Haslemere to Farncombe) both have new line officers to help deliver community engagement projects in partnership with local stakeholders.
The funding provided by South Western Railway has also allowed for the introduction of new projects such as encouraging travel to stations between Tisbury and Exeter St Davids; supporting a return to work programme for women on the Isle of Wight; and Travel Training for youngsters in Hampshire.
Although some work has been put on hold due to Coronavirus, SWR has also worked with CRPs to adapt plans. This has included switching funding from ‘Music on the Move’, a performance programme based on board trains on the Isle of Wight and the Lymington line, to ‘Food on the Move’ distributing meals to the vulnerable during lockdown. Alongside this Devon and Cornwall RP has switched its plans to produce a hardcopy Book Lovers Guide to create an online site which promotes local booksellers across the two areas (available here).
Maddy Mills, the new North Downs line officer, explained: “I’m relishing the new challenge. I’ve been the part time Education Officer with the CRP for nearly 18 months and during that time I’ve heard about all the fantastic activities my fellow officers have run on their lines. I’m now keen to get projects planned and possibly run, subject to lockdown, as soon as possible.
"Ideas that I’m working on at the moment include a project with youngsters to create new artwork to be displayed at Ash, Winnersh and Winnersh Triangle stations, which can be prepared now and put up after restrictions have been lifted; and starting discussions on gardening projects to enhance the appearance of stations.”
Lucy Lomax, the first ever line officer for the Surrey Hills to South Downs CRP, added: “I think that this time has been great as through Zoom I have met so many new people in a short space of time. I have felt the time has been productive. That said, I am really looking forward to exploring the new area by train and visiting all the wonderful new places along the part of the line I am now involved in when the time is right.”
In addition to the above, Lucy has been supporting members of the Steering Group on a bid to the European Commission Rural Development Growth Fund for a Rail to Ramble signage and marketing project.
SWR has also provided more money than ever before to its station adoption fund, administered by the Community Rail Network, for volunteer groups who work with SWR to help locations further reflect the areas they serve. Although work had to stop at the stations during lockdown, the company has kept in touch with groups and was one of the first to introduce rules for the safe restart of some gardening activities at its locations. It has already agreed funding for four groups to replace dead plants (victims of lockdown) and has encouraged others to apply as well.
SWR’s Community Rail Manager, Andy Harrowell, said: “At SWR we are committed to the communities that our stations serve, and the work of the CRPs is even more important than ever before.
“We are really pleased to have helped the CRPs reallocate funds to address needs due to Covid-19, as well as working with them to prepare for work that we believe will benefit local areas in the future.
“We are especially delighted that the new job appointments have progressed. Whilst Lucy and Maddy can’t dive straight in to delivering projects at their stations, the work that they have undertaken so far is vital to demonstrating how the railway can, and will, support its communities. I’m really excited about what we can progress on every line as life does start returning back to normal. Our thanks to all the CRPs, as well as the station adopters who have worked with us during the difficult period.”
Notes to editor
Each year, SWR provides almost £300,000 of funding to community rail work, including the operator now supporting 11 CRPs:
- Blackmore Vale (Tisbury to Crewkerne)
- Devon & Cornwall (Axminster to Exeter)
- East Hants (Liphook to Rowlands Castle)
- Heart of Wessex (Weymouth to Bristol)
- Hounslow and Richmond (Barnes to Feltham, via Brentford and Twickenham)
- Isle of Wight (Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin)
- Lymington to Brockenhurst
- North Downs
- Purbeck (Holton Heath to Moreton, including Swanage Railway)
- Surrey Hills to South Downs
- Three Rivers (Salisbury to Bursledon / Winchester, via Romsey and Chandler’s Ford)
It also provides funding to the Community Rail Network to employ an officer dedicated to supporting its work to return redundant buildings back into spaces for community use.
