The Community Rail Awards were held in Newcastle earlier this month, recognising a diverse array of projects across Britain and beyond, with 20 winners chosen from 227 inspiring entries, all demonstrating how the community rail movement builds positivity and awareness between local people and their railways. We are delighted to report a number of successes for our community at these awards.
Firstly, in the Platinum level of the It’s Your Station category, Friends of Buxton Station were named as the overall winner and Friends of Glossop Station gained a certificate of excellence.
Key projects for Buxton included:
- Engaging with Buxton Town Team to repurpose old poppies into a piece of sustainable, Remembrance art
- Collaborating with Network Rail to re-wild an area of station land
- Supporting Ukrainian settlers to feel part of the community through activities at the station
- Partnering with Northern’s accessibility team to improve signage and wayfinding
- Empowering artists from marginalised groups to exhibit their work at the station
- Promoting rail’s connections with buses, cycling and walking & wheeling to access more sustainable days out
- Encouraging ‘bumblebee safaris’ from Buxton and nine other stations in the Peak District
High Peak and Hope Valley CRP were awarded 2nd prize in the Most Effective Communications Campaign for The Buxton Line artworks, film project and photography.
Community Rail Network wrote: “Arts, film and photography formed the key elements of a multi-faceted campaign that spanned social media and broadcast, designed to promote each of the stations along the line and the diverse array of visitor attractions that surround them. Over the two-week launch period, High Peak & Hope Valley CRP’s Facebook reach increased by 57%, and in the six months after the campaign, passenger numbers to destinations including Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Disley showed a marked increase of between 18-27%.”
“A high-quality campaign which can be built upon in future and seems to have had a direct impact on passenger numbers and engagement with the CRP’s website. Great collaboration and partnership.” Barbara Saunders, CRA25 judge
You can find out more about the whole event on the Community Rail Network website.
