South Western Railway and Network Rail have joined forces and agreed that the Arts Society Guildford could adopt the station at Guildford.

SWR’s station adoption programme allows community groups to adopt their local station and put their own stamp on the area.

With this group, Network Rail installed frames which were provided by funding from SWR. The frames were installed in the Network Rail managed stations waiting room.

Due to the exceptionally hard work of the Arts Society Guildford’s Young Arts Representative, Liz Collins, the list of Surrey stations adopted by the organisation is able to grow with Guildford joining both Woking and Farncombe.

Over the last 18 months, SWR has increased its registered station adopters sevenfold to 52, with stations ranging from Crewkerne, Upwey, Wool, and Haslemere, all the way to busy London locations, such as Brentford.

Commenting, Andy Harrowell, SWR’s Community Rail Manager, said: “We are delighted to have been able to extend our adoption programme to cover Guildford station, and provide both funding and support to help the wonderful Arts Society bring an extra splash of colour to the station’s waiting room. It’s been a real pleasure to support Liz’s efforts at our three stations, and through her positive work we are delighted to see other members of the Art Society adopt additional stations, including Andover and Kingston.”

Liz Collins, Young Arts Representative, The Arts Society Guildford said: “Art @ the Station has given local schools and colleges the rare opportunity to ‘showcase’ their excellent Artwork within a ‘real exhibition’, publicly. The students are thrilled to see their work on public display, and the positive feedback from passengers and rail staff is heart-warming. The Arts Society Guildford is grateful to SWR and Network Rail for their support in driving this successful project ‘down the line’”.

Jason Murphy, Head of Route Stations at Network Rail Wessex, said “Network Rail has a long tradition of supporting community art and we are happy to support such a great local initiative. We hope the passengers enjoy the artwork while using the waiting room.”

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