Govia Thameslink Railway awards £375,000 for community-led social and environmental projects

• Train operator awards £375,000 to support 19 local community improvement projects
• Winning schemes chosen from over 370 bids
• Next year’s fund now open for applications

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has awarded grants totalling £375,000 to 19 charities who are launching community projects in areas served by the train operator. [For a full list and outlines of projects, see editors’ notes below.]

The charities were chosen from over 370 organisations who answered GTR’s invitation to bid for support from its “Your Station, Your Community” fund last summer. Funding support ranges from £1,000 to £50,000, with larger awards split over two years.

The winning projects will involve and enhance local communities in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, London, Surrey, Brighton & Hove, and East and West Sussex.

They include schemes aiming to increase wellbeing and independence for young autistic and disabled people; to improve internet skills among the digitally excluded; to reduce anti-social and criminal behaviour among young people; to improve mental health through gardening or art; and to build life and employment skills through bike restoration and maintenance.

In Cambridge, a grant has been awarded to the Red Balloon Educational Trust to support their Travel Bursary Scheme. The scheme will help bullied and traumatised young people in financial hardship to attend educational support sessions and travel to beneficial extracurricular activities. Red Balloon’s programmes help vulnerable students grow in confidence, regain social skills, catch up on academic skills, and earn qualifications.

The Trust’s Director of Education Rob Watson said: “Govia Thameslink Railway's generosity will have a huge impact on some of our most vulnerable students. These are students whose recovery is at a very delicate stage, and we need to encourage them to develop their emerging social skills and give them opportunities to practice key academic skills, so they can resume their journey towards an independent and fulfilled adulthood.

“The cost-of-living crisis has created additional barriers to this delicate but urgent work, specifically around the travel costs associated with taking advantage of the opportunities to meet in person. This grant provides the means to ensure there is one fewer barrier ahead of our students, and on their behalf, we thank Govia Thameslink for the impact this grant will have.”

Among four station-based public art projects is a mural at Finsbury Park station. GTR have part-funded workshops run by community art organisation Co-Creative Connection for local people to design and create the mural, guided and inspired by a professional artist. Co-Creative Connection specialise in helping communities collaborate to create public murals with focus on wellbeing, local pride and making social connections.

Rose Hill, Founder and Muralist at Co-Creative, said: "Murals are such an amazing way to bring a community together! It's incredible seeing people of all ages, abilities, and walks of life taking part - we love adding colour to transform an area into a joyful space! That's what Co-Creative Connection is really about: bringing people together to learn, create, and paint.

We're thrilled to be collaborating with Finsbury Park on this mural, along with a series of mindful workshops. Thank you very much to GTR's community investment fund grant, which has made this impactful project a reality!"

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 criteria for a successful grant application included how closely the aims of proposed projects match the train firm’s own key priorities for community support, which include mental health, life and employment skills among marginalised groups, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability. GTR’s assessment of the applications was overseen by passenger watchdog Transport Focus, and the Department for Transport gave final approval for each grant award.

Your Station, Your Community improvement fund 2024/25

From today [9^th November] GTR welcomes grant applications for the improvement fund’s 2024/25 allocations. The closing date is 15 December; full details are available on Thameslink and Great Northern websites.

ends

Notes to editors

Further information about projects supported by GTR

[Please note that we are unable to publish individual grant amounts, which are confidential.]

Cambridgeshire

Red Balloon Educational Trust: (Cambridge) A Travel Bursary Scheme to help bullied and traumatised young people in financial hardship to attend support sessions and travel to beneficial extracurricular activities. Red Balloon’s programmes help students grow in confidence, regain social skills, catch up on academic skills, earn qualifications, learn to be part of a community again, and get to a place in their recovery where they can begin to help themselves, where they have opportunities and can see a future for themselves. Further information: https://www.redballoonlearner.org/

Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire

Autism Bedfordshire:(Beds and Herts) Social and wellbeing and exercise groups for autistic young people and adults in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; helping participants to develop practical skills and independence that will improve their prospects in life and help them be part of the community. Further information: Autism Bedfordshire

The Daylight Club:(St Albans) Three community art projects based at St Albans City Station – a mural, a quilt and a photographic project, each working with marginalised, isolated communities (disabled adults, a South Asian women’s group, and a young offenders’ rehabilitation programme); and a local Infants School. Further information: (4) Facebook

St Albans Cycle Hub CIC: (St Albans) Community Cycling Engagement project will encourage, support and enable local young people and local women to build cycling confidence and access affordable, safe, healthy cycling as their transport of choice for local journeys. supporting the most vulnerable and engaging them in fully accessible bike training, safety and maintenance courses. Further information: https://www.stalbanscyclehub.co.uk/

North London

AFK: (Kentish Town) Travel training for young autistic and disabled people; promoting independent and safe use of public transport to open up more life and employment opportunities. Further information: https://www.afkcharity.org/

Co-Creative Connection: (Finsbury Park) Creating joyful spaces by working with local people to transform public spaces into vibrant works of art. GTR have part-funded a project in which a professional artist will run workshops with local people to design and install a mural at Finsbury Park station, aiming to instill a sense of pride and connection within the local community. Further information: Community Murals | CoCreativeConnection | United Kingdom

Enfield Chase Station Volunteers: Campaigning to preserve Enfield’s heritage and enhance the character and atmosphere of the Borough. GTR have awarded £13,769 for two artist-led projects that will create a memorable welcome to the station and the area, celebrating and promoting their history and heritage. Train service users will be welcomed by a very large (5 metres by 6 metres) community-developed platform mural, and additionally a pair of historical travellers in period clothes (with a twist). Further information: https://enfieldsociety.org.uk/

The Winchester Project: (Camden) “Advantage Camden” provides community support for 510 disadvantaged 11-16 year olds. Through school workshops, intensive mentoring, community outreach, sports sessions, and open access youth work, the programme aims to improve young people’s emotional, physical and social wellbeing. Further information: https://thewinch.org/

South London

In Streatham BID:The project will focus on regenerating spaces around Streatham and Streatham Hill stations through public art, wayfinding, greenery and seating. Further information: https://instreatham.com/

King’s College Hospital Charity: (Denmark Hill) King’s Youth Engagement Project recruits young volunteers to support hospital patients; helping at mealtimes, delivering activities to fend off boredom, providing companionship for isolated patients, helping digitally excluded patients to develop internet skills for keeping in touch with friends and family. The charity provides one-week, full-time placements for young people studying for a BTEC qualification in Health and Social Care to shadow clinical and healthcare support staff at King’s. Further information: King’s College Hospital Charity | (supportkings.org.uk)

Missing People:(Southwest London) - supports children and adults who are missing, and their families left behind dealing with the trauma of a disappearance. The highly-skilled Helpline team offer a lifeline to people in crisis, 365 days a year. GTR’s award will help raise awareness of the issue, signpost vital support and give missing people the opportunity to talk through how to stay safe. Further information: Home - Missing People

Onwards & Upwards:(Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark) Training prison leavers, and young adults on a path likely to end in prison, to become fully qualified bike mechanics. Those who demonstrate ability and a good attitude are offered full time jobs refurbishing bikes donated from the Metropolitan Police. Also work with the Bicycle Association to place graduates into employment with other bicycle retailers where there is a serious shortage of skilled mechanics. Further information: https://www.onwardsandupwards.uk/

Surrey

Growing Redhill:(Merstham station) Community-led gardening group run solely by volunteers, helping local people to get into gardening, supporting members with tools and space to develop their growing skills. Following 10 years of service to Merstham station, the group’s project will evolve their newer formal station partnership to regenerate an under-utilised part of the station with a bespoke artwork, and encourage the use of local walking and cycling routes. Further information: https://www.growingredhill.co.uk/

Sustainable Earlswood: Station Roots is a community gardening and food growing project that aims to improve the social and physical fabric of the community by addressing loneliness and mental health needs. The project centres on Earlswood station, where local volunteers will create a 360m² wildflower garden and food growing spaces to regenerate redundant station land. In addition, an array of gardening activity across the area is planned: a green front garden development scheme; community orchard; allotment and extra-curricular schools’ programme; and the development of the local community-run pub garden – all connected by a pollinator and wellbeing planter network. Further information: email sustainableearlswood@gmail.com

East Sussex

Abandofbrothers: Eastbourne-based mentoring programme tackling self-destructive and anti-social behaviour, reducing repeat offending by raising self-esteem and motivation. Programmes lead to employment or further education for the majority. Further information: https://abandofbrothers.org.uk/

Artytime CIC:(Crowborough) Building a community hub in the town for local groups; Artytime will run their own arts and crafts workshops for people of all ages to develop and express creativity. The main focus will be to enhance well-being and mental health, build confidence and upskilling to help people back into work or just keep them active and feeling valued in society. Further information: https://www.artytime.co.uk/

Clean Up Hastings:(Ore) Aims to clean up the area around Ore station, a hot spot for litter. The project will provide a regular presence to keep on top of the situation and get the local community involved, encouraging passers-by to be responsible with their litter in the first place. Further information: (4) Clean UP Hastings | Facebook

Brighton & Hove

Citizens Online:“Digital Brighton & Hove” supports digitally excluded people to get online and build digital skills. The people more likely to be digitally excluded are often socially excluded and vulnerable. They are likely to be older, on low income, disabled or have low educational attainment. Further information: https://www.citizensonline.org.uk/

West Sussex

Audio Active: (Worthing) Developing musical talent to help young people and emerging artists reach their full potential. GTR have awarded a grant to “SHIFT”, their dedicated programme for those at risk of exploitation, or becoming involved in anti-social & criminal behaviour. Mentors work with participants in music-making activities that build their confidence and self-esteem, and help to find solutions to their situations, develop protective factors, and create hopes and aspirations for their futures. Further information: https://audioactive.org.uk/