Published on: Thursday, 10 July 2014
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Brimsdown rail station looks blooming lovely thanks to a partnership between a local woman and train operator Abellio Greater Anglia.
As a result, the station, on London Liverpool Street – Hertford East railway line, has been nominated for the Enfield In Bloom Awards in the ‘Best Public Building’ category.
Station adopter, local woman, Avril Nanton, has planted stunning floral displays to welcome visitors who arrive by rail, with the help of Abellio Greater Anglia’s station team.
The platform now boasts an array of attractive new tubs planted with summer flowers including geraniums, lavender, petunias, marigolds, galadia, conifers, dahlias, lilies, Red Hot Poker and Fatsia Japonica.
Avril, a keen gardener, has only just taken over the care of the station garden as the station’s new adopter, but is already planning improvements such as winter displays and trying to find suitable planting for Ponders End and Enfield Lock rail stations. Approaching her role with great pride, Avril has also branched out into helping to clean parts of the station to ensure that the garden area is looking its best and is filling tubs and baskets with many of her homegrown plants.
Abellio Greater Anglia’s Area Customer Service Manager, Alan Neville, said, “Avril has worked wonders in a short space of time and the garden area looks lovely as a result. We would like to thank her for her support and enthusiasm for creating a bright and warm welcome to the station.”
Abellio Greater Anglia’s Adopt-a-Station initiative sees volunteers around the network adopting their local stations and reporting to the train operator about the standard of facilities at the station as well as bringing their own schemes to fruition – such as acquiring a new bench for the platform, planting gardens and filling flower tubs, and helping to keep the platforms free from litter.
The Adopt-a-Station initiative is aimed at improving lines of communication between the train operator and railway station users, promoting and encouraging feedback about the station buildings and facilities to help ensure that they meet the high standards expected by those who use them.