Greater Anglia invites local communities to get involved with local rail station improvements in Suffolk

Published on: Friday, 17 August 2018
Last updated: Friday, 17 August 2018

Greater Anglia is appealing for community volunteers to get involved with their local rail stations to help drive improvements and make them even more welcoming to passengers.

Vacancies for ‘station adopters’ currently exist at five rail stations in Suffolk.

Greater Anglia’s Community Engagement Manager, Alan Neville, said “We are hoping that individuals, community organisations or local councils, who have an interest in improving their local rail station and bringing it into the heart of the community, will come forward with their ideas.

“Local communities are best placed to know which improvements and projects will benefit them most and we can help them realise their plans through our Station Adoption scheme.”

Greater Anglia provides some funding via the scheme which can help adopters cover the costs of small projects, such as the creation of station gardens and the purchase of flowers, tubs, hanging baskets, tools and materials to help improve the station environment.

Currently awaiting adoption are Ipswich, Needham Market, Oulton Broad South, Thurston and Westerfield stations.

Anyone interested in joining the Adopt a Station scheme should contact [email protected]

The ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme enables individuals or groups to adopt their local railway station and contribute to its presentation and welfare for the benefit of the local community.

The voluntary scheme was originally created to improve lines of communication between the train operator and station users. Launched in East Anglia by Anglia Railways in 2003 with a broader aim of improving station presentation, its scope has grown still further, with station adopters now playing an active role in keeping stations looking good through inventive gardening projects, creative community art schemes, participation in station ‘health checks’ or by being the “eyes and ears” of their station.

Greater Anglia now has 93 of its 133 stations “adopted”, with over 200 volunteers across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire helping to make their station an impressive gateway to their local community.