Grants totalling £375,000 have been awarded by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) towards community projects being run by 19 charities in its network area.

The 19 charities were chosen from over 370 organisations who applied in response to the railway’s invitation to bid for support from its “Your Station, Your Community” fund, and will receive grants ranging from £1,000 to £50,000, with the larger awards split over two years.

To be eligible for a grant, the application had to show how closely the proposed projects matched Govia Thameslink Railway’s own priorities for community support, including mental health, life and employment skills among marginalised groups, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.

The winning projects included schemes designed to:

• increase wellbeing and independence for young autistic and disabled people;
• improve internet skills among the digitally excluded;
• reduce anti-social and criminal behaviour among young people;
• improve mental health through gardening;
• build life and employment skills through recycling bicycles and training in their maintenance.

There are also four station-based public art projects, one particularly focussed on engaging marginalised communities.

One of the charities is AudioActive from Sussex, which uses music to help young people tackle difficult problems in their lives and emerging artists to reach their full potential. AudioActive’s CEO Adam Joolia said: “It’s been a particularly challenging year for many young people in Worthing and this support from GTR will mean that we are able to help some particularly vulnerable young people to discover and nurture their talents whilst developing skills and relationships to help them stay safe.”

Another charity is the Southwest London branch of Missing People, which supports children and adults who are missing and their families dealing with their disappearance. Jo Youle OBE, CEO of Missing People, said: “Thameslink and Missing People are very closely linked. Stations and trains can be a safe haven, and also a one-way ticket away from a current situation for many people when they go missing.

“The link between transport and missing is so unique – our work will help vulnerable missing people and save lives. We would like to thank Thameslink for this fund, supporting the charity and making sure that more missing people get the right help at the right time.”

GTR’s Chief Executive Officer Angie Doll said: “I’m delighted to congratulate the nineteen successful organisations, many of whom are new partners for us. We’re excited to be working with them all to generate the social and environmental benefits their projects are designed to deliver.

“We’d also like to thank everyone who applied. The magnificent response and extremely high quality of the bids shows the incredible energy, creativity and commitment our local communities possess.

“It has been really hard to decide who the first winners were, as all the bids addressed important social needs. Unfortunately, we can only help fund a fraction of the projects, so many excellent bidders will no doubt be disappointed, and I encourage them to try again now for next year’s fund.

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

The other successful charities were:

• Growing Redhill:(Merstham station);
• Sustainable Earlswood: Station Roots;
• Abandofbrothers (East Sussex);
• Artytime CIC: (Crowborough)
• Clean Up Hastings: (Ore);
• Citizens Online: “Digital Brighton & Hove”
• In Streatham BID;
• King’s College Hospital Charity: (Denmark Hill) King’s Youth Engagement Project;
• Onwards & Upwards: (Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark);
• AFK: (Kentish Town) Travel;
• Co-Creative Connection: (Finsbury Park);
• Enfield Chase Station Volunteers;
• The Winchester Project: (Camden) “Advantage Camden”;
• Red Balloon Educational Trust: (Cambridge);
• Autism Bedfordshire: (Beds and Herts);
• The Daylight Club: (St Albans)
• St Albans Cycle Hub CIC.

Applications for grants from the 2024/25 allocations are now open with a closing date of Friday, 15 December; full details are available on the Southern and Thameslink websites.