A group of women from Accrington in Lancashire have volunteered to adopt their local railway station and look after it so it gives a good impression of the town which they proudly call home.

Accrington station is operated by Northern and used by over 465,000 people a year.

The group of about 20 women decided to adopt the station after Shahiesta Raja from Community Rail Lancashire invited a small group to meet up and socialise at the station after Covid-19 restrictions were eased in 2021.

Shahiesta Raja then told the women how Northern operates more than 500 stations, with over half of them having an adoption group.

There was an opportunity to form an adoption group for Accrington to improve the station by regularly meeting and working together at the station.

It was explained how volunteers work together to make the station more pleasant and welcoming, tend to floral displays and station gardens, deliver artwork projects, and bring unused old buildings back into use for the community.

Each week, the group clean the platform, work on a range of artwork projects, and maintain the colourful floral displays and the station garden which they hope to turn into a community space.

The group has spread their message at various charity fundraisers and activities, and invited groups of schoolchildren to visit their mosque in the town.

Northern is always interested in anyone who wishes to set up a group to adopt their local station.

Last year a group of volunteers adopted Dalston station in Cumbria, and recently appealed for volunteers to step forward and adopt Buckshaw Parkway station in Lancashire.

Anyone who wishes to do a station should send an email to [email protected]

“It is not something you would usually see a minority community get involved in. But looking after the environment and looking after our community is something we’ve been taught to do as part of our culture, so when we saw this was open to us, we jumped at the chance.

Neilam Iqbal, treasurer of the group

I don’t think there’s a group like this one and I’m willing to bet it’s the only station adoption group in the country made up of South Asian Muslim women.

Every Tuesday morning you can see women in hijabs and high-viz on the platform for me it’s a really nice sight.

Shahiesta Raja