Rail firm announces community projects to share £448,000 improvement fund

• Train operator awards grants worth £448,000 – 20% up on last year – to support 37 local community-led social and environmental improvement projects
• Almost half will involve local communities in East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, tackling homelessness and anti-social behaviour, and supporting mental health, employability and diversity and inclusion
• Winning projects chosen from over 200 bids.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has awarded grants totalling £448,000 to 37 organisations who are launching community projects close to stations served by the train operator.

The charities and community groups were chosen from over 200 applicants who bid for support from GTR’s “Your Station, Your Community” fund last summer. Funding support ranges from £300 to £40,000, with larger awards split over two years.

Projects funded last year generated an estimated £150 million in social value, and GTR is aiming for an even higher figure from this year’s increased investment.

Almost half of the winning projects will involve and enhance local communities in East and West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove. They include schemes aiming to tackle mental ill-health, homelessness and anti-social behaviour, and to improve the environment, sustainability and accessibility. Examples are:

• Clock Tower Sanctuary, the only day-centre in Brighton & Hove providing vital practical and emotional support to 16-25-year-olds who are homeless or insecurely housed.
• The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust:working with West Sussex County Council, the Trust aims to reduce anti-social behaviour with a programme of mentoring for young people by professional athletes
• Reinventing Borde Hill: creating a new Green Travel Route between Haywards Heath station and the nationally important English country garden, to connect communities with the mentally and physically restorative power of nature.
• The Wild Mind Project runs free sessions that support 11-to-15-year-olds with their mental health and wellbeing, encouraging children and young people to connect with nature, build social and life skills, relieve stress and make new friends. The first of four four-week programmes funded by GTR runs from Sunday 4th August to Sunday 25th August. Booking is now open at the Wild Mind website - booking-form - The Wild Mind Project

[All 18 grant-winning projects in East and West Sussex and Brighton & Hove are outlined in Editors’ notes below]

Jennifer Tulloch, Head of Children and Young People's Services for the Wild Mind Project, said: "We are really excited to be supporting young people aged 11 to 15 locally, with our upcoming creative and nature-based sessions at our peaceful plot at Stanmer Park. Our first four-week programme runs from Sunday 4th August to Sunday 25th August. A huge thank you to Govia Thameslink Railway for making this possible."

Other projects receiving grants are based in London, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

GTR’s Infrastructure director Keith Jipps said: “With our annual budget increased by 20 per cent, we’ve been able to make almost twice as many awards as last year when we launched the Fund, and I’m delighted to congratulate the 37 successful organisations. We’re excited to be working with them all to generate the social and environmental benefits their projects are designed to deliver.

“The projects we supported last year will generate an estimated £150 million of social value – we’re expecting this year’s programmes to top that figure.

“Thanks are due to everyone who applied. The magnificent response and extremely high quality of the bids shows the incredible energy, creativity and commitment our local communities possess.

“All the bids addressed important social needs, so it was a tough task to decide the winners. 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 next year.

“Thanks again to our existing partners such as the community rail partnerships and tourism bodies, who have done a brilliant job spreading the word across our network since we launched the fund. And thanks also to our community partnerships team, who are managing our contribution to this huge and important programme.”

Final approval of each grant award was made by the Department for Transport.

Editors’ notes

Grant recipients and projects

West Sussex

Arun Youth Projects (Angmering) aims to reduce anti-social behaviour around Angmering train station through its Detached Youth Work initiative, engaging with young individuals to cultivate a welcoming atmosphere and create a sense of ownership of their area, encouraging their involvement in maintaining a pleasant station environment. Further information: https://www.arunchurch.com/community/ayp

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. Further information: https://audioactive.org.uk/

Balcombe Guerrilla Gardeners: Established to improve the beauty of Balcombe, the volunteer group maintains gardens and decorative planters around the village, including at the station. The grant from GTR will allow the replanting of the seven planters on the station platforms with new bulbs and summer bedding.

Borde Hill: (Haywards Heath) is a nationally important English country garden set in Grade II* listed parkland near Haywards Heath. GTR will help fund a new Green Travel Route, a key element of the “Reinventing Borde Hill” (RBH) project aiming to connect communities with the restorative power of nature, helping local people feel mentally and physically replenished, and inspiring future generations through outdoor learning. The Green Travel Route, for cyclists and pedestrians, will create car-free access to Borde Hill from Haywards Heath train station for the first time. Home - Borde Hill

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust: (West Coastway) Working with West Sussex County Council and the Police Ops Safety Team, the project will provide intensive support to young people identified as being at the centre of knife-related crime, gangs, drugs and anti-social behaviour in the county. GTR will fund a bespoke version of the Trust’s ‘On Track to Achieve’ mentoring programme at Alternative Provision Colleges (APCs) in West Sussex, identified as having a high number of pupils who have been involved in antisocial behaviour on trains and at stations along the south coast. Dame Kelly Holmes Trust

Turning Tides is a community-led homelessness organisation supporting people across West Sussex. It runs Community Hubs and outreach in Worthing, Littlehampton, Horsham and Mid Sussex, providing first point of contact for rough sleepers, those at risk of becoming homeless and people struggling to maintain a tenancy. Services include hostels, residential drug and alcohol treatment services, and ‘move on’ housing provision for clients preparing to live independently.

GTR’s grant will support the provision of a bespoke Digital Inclusion service for people experiencing homelessness, by contributing to the salary of the Community Development Co-ordinator, and the provision of 30+ digital devices to be distributed to clients at no cost. Clients will have access to digital inclusion support via one-to-one and group sessions in Horsham, Littlehampton and Worthing. The Community Development Co-ordinator will liaise with local businesses and charities to secure donations of second-hand devices, purchase devices where donations cannot be sourced, and to raise awareness of digital exclusion and its effect on people experiencing homelessness. Turning Tides (turning-tides.org.uk)

Brighton & Hove

Breadwinners Foundation: The Breadwinners Foundation tackles unemployment, poor well-being and mental health by providing young refugees and people seeking asylum with their first work experience in the UK. GTR’s grant will support a six-month ‘Breadwinners’ programme for five refugees in Brighton. Each participant is employed on market stalls selling bread, providing great content for their CV, building confidence and teaching transferable skills. The programme also includes employability training sessions and a personal mentor.

Brighton Toy Museum - Brighton Toy and Model Museum is embarking on an exciting scheme to regenerate the underpass on Trafalgar Street, which forms part of Brighton station. The project will greatly improve a long-neglected area by restoring Grade 2* listed brickwork, adding additional lighting and CCTV cameras to encourage a greater sense of security and additional footfall to and from the station and the gateway to the North Laine. It will create a welcoming and more inviting environment for residents, businesses and visitors.

The museum displays and cares for about 14,000 models and toys from the last three centuries. It attracts about 15,000 visitors a year, and offers educational workshops to schools from Brighton and the Southeast enabling schoolchildren to engage with the collections. https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/

Clock Tower Sanctuary (CTS) is the only day-centre in Brighton & Hove providing vital practical and emotional support to 16-to-25-year-olds who are homeless or insecurely housed. It offers washing and laundry facilities, hot meals, confidence-building activities and support with accessing health services, benefits, housing and training through 1-to-1 caseworking. In 2022, CTS provided 4,834 hot meals and hosted 2,915 unique visits to young people with nowhere else to turn. The centre wants Brighton & Hove to be a city where young people’s experience of homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring. With GTR’s grant, CTS aims to help 120 young people experiencing homelessness or insecure housing, including improving their physical and mental health and employment skills. Home Page - Clock Tower Sanctuary (thects.org.uk)

Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project: The Project provides an outdoor education to people typically excluded from the nature conservation world. GTR’s grant will help adults with learning disabilities and children who struggle in a classroom setting to create a bee and butterfly bank on a patch of overgrown wasteland at Moulsecoomb station. Home - Moulsecoomb Forest Garden

The Wild Mind Project runs free programmes and drop-in sessions for young people experiencing mental ill-health. Sessions offer a unique combination of nature interventions, creative activities, mindful exercises and peer support, which are proven to significantly benefit young people’s mental wellbeing. GTR’s grant will help fund their Mental Health Support In Nature courses, providing mental health support for people aged 11 to 25, focusing on particularly vulnerable groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and people with learning disabilities. Four proposed four-week programmes will operate from a secluded nature plot in the Brighton area. The Wild mind project - The Wild Mind Project

East Sussex

abandofbrothers (Eastbourne) - abandofbrothers aim to reduce self-destructive and anti-social behaviour among young men, many of whom have had adverse childhood experiences and complex trauma, by improving their self-esteem, sense of hope and motivation to restore their sense of shared local responsibility.

The Quest for Community is a ten-week mentoring programme that connects young men with an older mentor from the community, to address mental health, addiction, relationships and work, and help prepare them for a “rite of passage” experience on The Quest weekend. Further mentoring follows the weekend, and abandofbrothers is then available to them for life. Participants become mentors to new mentees, sharing their own experiences and journeys to support a new generation to develop the behaviours they need to succeed.

“We begin to help young men transform themselves into a force for good.” https://abandofbrothers.org.uk/

Artytime (Crowborough) supports wellbeing and mental health by involving arts and crafts through fun, creative workshops and sessions, as well as training people to deliver them.

GTR’s grant will support the development of a Crowborough Community Hub as a venue for Artytime and other organisations to offer a variety of meetings, workshops and other useful offerings to help build better communities. https://www.artytime.co.uk/

Culture Shift: Visits to Sussex heritage venues near Southern stations for learning-disabled adults. Arts | Culture Shift CIO | Sussex, United Kingdom

Friends of Ore Station: GTR will support the Friends’ Ore Station Community Garden project to revitalise a neglected space at the station and its immediate area, making it safer and more inviting to foster a sense of community pride. The garden will promote social connections, environmental education, and a shared commitment to growing food sustainably in a working kitchen garden. The project seeks to bring the community together, addressing fresh food security whilst combating issues of health and well-being including fly tipping and antisocial behaviour. (8) Facebook

Landport Community Hub (Lewes): GTR will help the charity run a community garden that brings gardening, growing food, the pleasure of working outdoors and a safe experience of nature for a wide range of people, including those who face considerable additional challenges in life. The garden is visited by a local Dementia Support group, a mental health support group, a nursery which focuses on under 5s with additional needs, local people who want to learn about growing food, and young people from a youth group who need help to make positive life choices. It produces food year-round for the local foodbank and for people who put in volunteer time in exchange for vegetables and fruit. The garden has also created a job for a skilled local gardener, whose wage is the garden’s biggest expense. (8) Facebook

Network wide

Grassroots Suicide Prevention: GTR will support the Stay Alive Network Campaign to publicise and distribute the successful Stay Alive app, which provides immediate assistance and resources to people at risk of suicide and those who are supporting someone at risk. The app, developed in 2014, has had over 750,000 downloads, and has been translated into 14 languages. It includes a searchable database of crisis resources, a Safety Plan, a LifeBox to store life-affirming photos and videos, and educational articles. The campaign is designed to engage commuters, rail staff, and local communities associated with Great Northern, Southern, Gatwick Express, and Thameslink. Grassroots Suicide Prevention | Educating, Connecting, Campaigning (prevent-suicide.org.uk)

Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) funds regional groups led by blind and partially sighted volunteers called Sight Loss Councils (SLCs) who use their lived experience to increase the accessibility of public transport. SLCs have worked with GTR to provide blind and partially sighted rail travellers with apps that provide a live personal guide around stations via their phone’s camera. The apps are now free to use at 12 stations. TPT will use their new grant award to create audio guides for six of the stations: Brighton, Eastbourne, Sutton, Blackfriars, Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage. Available on the internet, these guides will allow users to get information about stations and trains while planning their journeys in advance. TPT estimates that as many as 130,000 people could benefit. Learn more about Sight Loss Councils: sightlosscouncils.org.uk