Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) ‘Your Station, Your Community’ Fund has been oversubscribed this year.

The £500,000 annual social and environmental improvement fund has attracted more than £8.5 million in grant bids for its first year.

There was a four week window for applications, which closed in July. During this time, over 370 projects were submitted.

The most popular issues addressed were mental health, diversity and inclusion. The applications will be assessed by Govia Thameslink Railway alongside Transport Focus.

The bids are looked at and scored depending on social value, feasibility, support and outcomes.

The schemes that are shortlisted will be sent to the Department for Transport for approval. Those which are successful will be notified by March 2023.

GTR’s Chief Operating Officer Angie Doll said: “We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to these bids for their hard work in producing this truly magnificent response. In the fund’s first year we weren’t sure we’d attract enough interest to invest all of the funding, but to be oversubscribed almost 20-fold shows the incredible energy, creativity and commitment our local communities possess.

“The standard of the applications has been extremely high in both quantity and quality, many from organisations we’d had little or no contact with before.

“It will be really hard to decide who the first winners are, as all the responses address important social needs. Unfortunately, we’ll only be able to help fund a fraction of the projects this year, so many excellent bidders will no doubt be disappointed, and I would encourage them to try again next year.

“I would also like to thank our existing partners such as the community rail partnerships and tourism partners, who have done a brilliant job spreading the word across our network.”