14 Jul Appeal for volunteers to join

Calling all local individuals or organisations who would be willing to join Friends of
Redditch Railway, to enhance Redditch Railway Station.

We aim to engage and inspire local communities and help people get the most from their railways, promoting social inclusion and sustainable travel, working alongside train operators to bring about improvements, and bringing stations back to life and brightening the gateway to the town. You can find out more about us and what we our aims are on the About Page on the menu above.

This could be done through a range of projects such as gardening/floral displays, artwork, or partnerships with schools and community groups. The Community Rail Network will work closely with us to help develop plans for Redditch.

We believe that West Midlands Railway ‘community volunteers’ are vital to help them deliver attractive, clean, well-managed stations that make people using the station feel safe and show customers their train operator cares about their personal comfort and wellbeing. It also helps to reduce anti-social behaviour and brings the station into the heart of the community it serves.

We hope the type of individuals and also local companies will participate are those who want to make sure that first impressions reflect the pride they feel in their community. We are open to welcoming organisations to be become Friends and have a presence on the Friends Group as this might help them recruit new members and would make an active contribution to the local community. Similarly, organisations could use activity at the station as part of their therapeutic work with disadvantaged groups or people with disabilities or mental health issues.

On the commercial side, businesses keen to contribute to the local community as part of their social responsibility agenda might wish to become involved or offer support or sponsorship. We hope the local Business Improvement District (BID) and Business Forum (IBF) will participate as they are keen to encourage inward investment and make sure the place where many people will arrive to visit local businesses leaves a favorable impression.

The involvement of local schools could introduce the next generation to rail travel. Station adoption could form part of their curriculum in civic studies or horticulture. Or help might be found from local horticultural groups, keen to make their town or village a bit more attractive.

We are hoping that there will be a great response to this appeal which will lead to groups working together towards shared goals for the overall health and wellbeing of our town.

If you, or your organisation would be interested in meeting to discuss participation , please to get in touch, you can contact us via the contact page

As Friends we want to increase awareness of the Railway through events and activities. We also hope that we can educate and inspire children and adults alike to take more interest in the environment and hep to make our station abetter place to depart, arrive, or wait.