The Community Rail Awards are well respected across the industry and celebrate both the dedication and commitment of those playing a part in community rail and the benefits created for local communities. 

The awards took place on the 6th of October in Manchester and saw Platform Rail Community Education Scheme, which is a project created by Severnside, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Transwilts Community Rail Partnerships, as one of the big winners. 

Sharing a vision to develop an education offer throughout their areas, the Community Rail Partnerships worked together to create a scheme to support schools to engage with the rail industry and went on to attain funding for an 18-month pilot from the Community Rail Development Fund, Great Western Railway and CrossCountry.

The project was awarded the top prize in the Influencing Positive Change & Sustainability category. 

Severnside CRP manager Heather Cullimore said:

“It has been wonderful for Severnside to collaborate with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and TransWilts Community Rail Partnerships to develop such a high-quality education offer open to mainstream schools and specialist education provision.

“Platform supports teachers to deliver the National Curriculum while empowering young people to make sustainable, healthy travel choices as they grow their independence. At a time when many schools are struggling to meet the cost of running school trips, Platform’s completely free-of-charge offer of curriculum-linked resources, in-school workshops and rail familiarisation trips have a really important role in supporting learning inside and outside of the classroom.

“It’s incredible to think that in the first six months of Platform our small team of passionate and talented qualified teachers have delivered their programme to almost 2,500 young people, and thousands more will benefit during this academic year and beyond.”

Gloucestershire Community Rail Project’s Getaway project also took the top prize for the Involving Diverse Groups category. The project saw funding via Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership in order to build partnerships with The Friendship Cafe and The Music Works which are two community organisations. The project saw the organisations open up rural spaces for younger members of Gloucestershire’s ethnically diverse community.

The impressive project also saw ten day trips organised which engaged 117 young people aged 16 to 25 with 38 inspiring experiences in order to build their aspirations, create new skills and grow confidence and independence through rail travel. The activities included canoeing, farming, bushcraft, mountain biking and outdoor cooking, participants also created vlogs for online platforms which inspired skills in creativity.

Another winner was Gloucestershire CRP’s Getaway project, which took the top prize in the Involving Diverse Groups category.

Gloucestershire CRP Partnership Co-Director Hannah McDonnell said:

“We are so proud of the team and want to thank our community and rail industry partners for making our Getaway programme possible. Putting diversity and inclusion at the centre of our work is a priority for GCRP and winning the Community Rail Award for Involving Diverse Groups showcases our commitment to diversifying rural spaces. We hope this will inspire others to do the same.”

Further Community Rail Partnership prize winners are: 

For the Community Creative Projects and Station Arts category, 2nd Prize was awarded to the British Sign Language Artwork at Patchway Station – Severnside Community Rail Partnership

2nd Prize was awarded for the Small Projects Award category to the Finding the Way to Bedminster Station – Severnside CRP and GWR and The Grove Youth Club

The Most Effective Communications Campaign category saw the first prize given to Go Green by TrainCO2 Savings – Southeast Communities CRP

The Tourism and Leisure Award saw a 1st for Wales on Rails Tourism Project – Great Little Trains of Wales and the Community Rail Partnerships of Wales and the Borders (South West Wales Connected CRP) and 2nd prize for Walks from the Railway – Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership (DCRP)

The Photo Competition – Capturing the essence of Community Rail in 2021/2022 saw Catherine Simmons from South East Communities CRP take 3rd place with A Royal Tour of the 1066 Line – What will they think of next!

The Influencing Positive Change and Sustainability category saw 3rd place go to Let’s Talk Travel – GCRP

The Most Enhanced Railway Spaces category saw 2nd place given to the Restoration of Bere Alston Former Signal Box – DCRP

Great Western Railway Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:

“GWR has ten Community Rail Partnerships on our network and we are incredibly proud of the work they do. They have great local knowledge and I know that they all work incredibly hard, as volunteers, inspiring sustainable improvements to their community and the local economy.

“They continue to deliver a host of worthwhile projects and I am delighted to see them gain such deserved recognition at the 2022 Community Rail Awards.”