Train operator awards grants to 12 community projects in London

• Train operator awards grants worth £448,000 – 20% up on last year – to support 37 local community-led social and environmental improvement projects; 12 grant winners will be working in London
• Winning projects, chosen from over 200 bids, cover GTR’s rail network from Cambridge to Chichester
• London projects will be tackling issues such as homelessness, hunger, marginalisation and mental ill-health.
  

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

The charities and community groups were chosen from over 200 organisations who bid for support from GTR’s annual “Your Station, Your Community” fund for 2024-25.

Winners include schemes aiming to tackle mental ill-health, homelessness and anti-social behaviour, and to improve the environment, sustainability and accessibility. 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.

A dozen grant-winning projects will support communities in London. [See Editors’ notes below for outlines of the 12 projects in London.] They include:

• the Repair Café in Brixton, where volunteer craftspeople mend local people’s broken items in a social setting - not only fixing things, but also restoring confidence, sharing useful skills, and generating community spirit.
• the Kentish Town City Farm, where visitors’ clubs will bring individuals and families together from different parts of the community to learn about sustainable agriculture.
• the Supported Employment Programme by Union Chapel’s Margins Project, a charity addressing the symptoms and causes of homelessness in Islington and Camden. Hosted in the iconic arts venue’s café, serving audience members before events and people in need alike, the pioneering programme provides professional hospitality training and development to people with lived experience of homelessness, the criminal justice system and/or substance abuse. The scheme aims to be a springboard to long-term employment and independence, breaking the cycle of homelessness and marginalisation.

Amanuel Woldesus, Head of Margins, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Govia Thameslink Railway and we are extremely grateful for their backing of our flagship supported employment programme. This grant will crucially ensure we can provide high-quality training and development to our trainees as part of our strength-based approach to address homelessness, whilst meeting surging demand and costs. We will continue to deliver vital positive changes to improve our trainees’ quality of life, health and wellbeing; build their employability, confidence and agency, whilst directly contributing to improving the local area around GTR’s railway stations.”

The winning projects will also involve and enhance local communities in East and West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. [For a full list and outlines of projects, see Editors’ notes below.]

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 a fraction of the applicants, so many excellent bidders will 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.

ends

Editors’ notes

Grant recipients and projects

London

Coulsdon South Station Partnership: Rejuvenating unused ground next to the station for community use. (Contact GTR press office for further information press.office@gtrailway.com)

English For Action: The charity English for Action (EFA) supports migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in London to shape their prospects for employment, health, education, and participation in civic life by providing easy access to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, support services, and multiple opportunities to grow skills and build resilient communities.

GTR will help to fund a project called ESOL for Refuge, supporting refugees and people seeking asylum in the London borough of Greenwich through a 27-week programme of trauma-informed education and mental health support. English for Action (efalondon.org)

Hillside Clubhouse: a charity supporting people with severe mental ill-health in Islington and Camden to secure training, find employment and participate in volunteering. GTR’s grant will fund creative well-being sessions for 40 participants. Hillside Clubhouse

Kentish Town City Farm: A short walk from Kentish Town Station, the farm provides a four-acre urban haven where local people - many of whom live in overcrowded housing without outdoor green space of their own - come together to care for, relax in and learn about the natural world. GTR will help to build on this community resource, by part-funding two community clubs: a Growing Club for individuals and families, and a Young Explorers club for parents and children under 5. These clubs will provide space for different parts of the local community to come together - building relationships and friendships, learning about sustainable agriculture and enjoying the gardens and their produce. The Farm is also building a new goat house on a triangle of waste ground surrounded by railway tracks. ktcityfarm.org.uk

King’s College Hospital Charity: GTR will help to fund the charity’s Youth Engagement Project, providing work experience for 200 young people studying for a Health and Social Care BTEC. Participants will provide patients with social support and help healthcare staff deliver a Digital Pioneers programme for digitally excluded patients. https://supportkings.org.uk/

Loughborough Junction Action Group: With GTR’s help, the action group’s “Platform Community Kitchen” employability and enterprise initiative will support young local chefs and start-up entrepreneurs. Loughborough Junction Action Group | The Loughborough Junction Action Group was founded by residents with the common goal of improving the quality of life in Loughborough Junction. | Loughborough Junction Action Group

The Margins Project - Based at Islington’s Union Chapel, The Margins Project addresses both the symptoms and causes of homelessness. It serves the most marginalised community members across Islington and Camden with crisis drop-ins, providing nutritious meals and hygiene facilities, along with advice, advocacy and engagement, upskilling and training for people who are most socioeconomically excluded.

GTR will help to fund the Margins’ Supported Employment Programme (SEP). Hosted at the charity’s Café in Union Chapel, this is a pioneering scheme to prevent and reduce the cycles of homelessness and marginalisation effectively and sustainably in the Islington and Camden areas. Each year, it offers 15 people with lived experience of homelessness, the criminal justice system and/or substance abuse a professional hospitality training programme, serving people in need and audience members prior to Union Chapel events. Comprising mentoring, support & development tailored to trainees’ complex needs, the SEP empowers them to build life & employability skills, confidence and prospects, as a springboard to long-term employment and independence. https://unionchapel.org.uk/projects/margins

Repair Café Lambeth CIC: Volunteers at the Repair Café mend local people’s broken items in a social setting - not only fixing things, but also restoring confidence, sharing useful skills, and promoting communication, cooperation, and community spirit. Repair Café Lambeth (repaircafe-lambeth.org)

Sporting Recovery CIC: Sporting Recovery’s Southwark Women Wellness Programme supports women recovering from mental ill health, or experiencing daily mental health challenges, by improving social connections and increasing self-esteem through physical fitness, healthy lifestyle activities and a Wellness Café. Sporting Recovery – Reducing Isolation and Connecting People

Woman’s Trust provides specialist mental health support for women in London to overcome the debilitating mental health impact of domestic abuse. GTR will help to fund a project to deliver 16 psycho-educational workshops to help women in their recovery from domestic abuse, by improving mental health and building a community of support. Domestic abuse - free counselling & mental health support London (womanstrust.org.uk)

Network-wide including London

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