Bloomin’ hard work as Downham station staff and community vie for Gold

Great Northern rail staff teamed up with the community of Downham Market today (Tuesday 30 June 2015) to plant up and tidy the station ahead of a visit by Anglia In Bloom judges.

Great Northern is sponsoring the town’s bloom bid with a £500 donation towards new plants and flowers.

The gardening and litterpick working party was organised by Downham In Bloom coordinator Pam Sharp and local Great Northern station manager Graeme Pratt. Pupils from Downham Market Academy joined in as did King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, the Fen Line Users’ Association and the Downham Market Women’s Institute.

The spruce-up includes hanging baskets along the station frontage, which the borough council will tend and water, and plants for the two overgrown gardens at the front of the station. There will also be platform and station frontage planters and more around the station car park.

Great Northern Passenger Service Director Keith Jipps said:

“The community at Downham has tried really hard to win ‘Gold’ in the Anglia In Bloom competition and last year achieved a High Silver Gilt Award. With the councils, townspeople and local academy we want to help them do just that! Everyone local to the railway hopes our contribution will make that difference.”

Downham In Bloom coordinator Pam Sharp said that she had wanted to improve still further on last year’s efforts with newly laid out gardens which had been so well received and recognised by the Anglia in Bloom judges. This was why she asked on behalf of Downham in Bloom whether new baskets could be added to further enhance the station.

Mrs Sharp said: “The railway staff, friends and partnership involvement this year has exceeded all our expectations and Downham station will be nominated for a Special Award to the Anglia in Bloom judges to show our appreciation.”

ends

Notes to editors

Downham In Bloom is a project led by Downham Market Town Council in conjunction with the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk and is part of the larger Anglia In Bloom competition that is run throughout the whole of East Anglia. This is, in turn, part of a Royal Horticultural Society project throughout the country.

Last year, Downham Market achieved a High Silver Gilt Award. Downham Market Academy made a significant contribution to this by being nominated by the visiting Anglia In Bloom Judges for an overall Anglia in Bloom Award.

About Great Northern

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) began running Thameslink (Bedford to Brighton, Sutton and Wimbledon) and Great Northern (London to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn) rail services on 14 September 2014. A small number of services and stations previously operated by Southeastern transferred to GTR in December 2014 and in July 2015 the Southern and Gatwick Express routes will be incorporated into the franchise. GTR will then be the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR will carry about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employ around 6,500 people and generate annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn. www.gtrailway.com www.thameslinkrailway.com