A group of 25 people made a journey along the North Yorkshire coastline as part of a programme which aims to rebuild ‘travel confidence’ among the older generation.

The Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station organised the trip, which was hosted by the train operator Northern and helped by the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership. The journey was designed to reduced that barriers that older people can face when accessing the railway, including understanding the different types of tickets.

The organisers hope that trips like this will also help older people to meet others from their local area and in doing so, tackle loneliness in coastal communities, a subject on which Age UK and Public Health Engalnd recently published a report, ‘Ageing in coastal and rural communities’.

The report highlights five key areas where it believes that action is needed to support older people:

• loneliness and social isolation
• the ‘digital divide’
• lack of support networks among people who move to rural and coastal communities.
• gaps in public transport provision
• gaps in support for carers and people with dementia

Northern hopes that activity like the ‘travel confidence’ day out will help tackle these issues.

Kerry Peters, regional director for Northern, said: “This was a great opportunity to demonstrate the accessibility of our services and help re-build the group’s confidence in using the railway.”

Rachel Osborne, Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership secretary, said: “We are proud to support initiatives like this which help bring people together, tackle loneliness and build confidence in using the railway.

“Many thanks to the ‘Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station’ for arranging this trip.”