South Western Railway celebrates as over 100 of our stations are adopted by local community volunteers

South Western Railway (SWR) is celebrating a landmark milestone as over 100 of its stations are now adopted by local community volunteers, cementing its leadership in community engagement.

Staines station in Surrey, which was named Medium Station of the Year at the National Rail Awards on Thursday 14 September, has become the 100^th station to be adopted, meaning a majority of stations across SWR’s network are now supported by dedicated teams of adopters.

Station adopters are groups of volunteers who work with SWR on making the most out of their station spaces and environments and take a lead on imagining new and creative ways for their stations to better serve their communities and strengthening their place within their local area.

At Staines station, Incredible Edible Spelthorne has created a new, accessible community food growing space, aiming to inspire the local community to utilise space at the side of the station to learn how food is produced, sustainably grow food together and provide free food.

Station adoption at SWR began with the formal adoption by the Friends of Christchurch station in Dorset in 2007. Since then, SWR stations have been adopted in nine counties: Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, London, Hampshire, Somerset, Surrey, Wiltshire, and on the Isle of Wight.

Groups in many towns and villages around the SWR network – from Brentford in West London all the way down to Pinhoe near Exeter – have signed up to be station adopters, all brought together by a desire to do something to improve both their local station and local areas.

Across the network, station adopters have played a vital role in supporting social, cultural, and economic development in their local areas, creating a sense of community and inclusion, and enhancing the customer experience.

Station adopters include community groups, charities, and businesses. SWR funds their membership of the Community Rail Network, the national body of over 1,000 station adopters across different train operators, which provides access to grant opportunities from the SWR station adoption fund and the Community Rail Network, as well as additional training, advice, and resources.

In May, the Community Rail Network launched the third annual Community Rail Week at SWR’s Tolworth station in South West London, adopted by the Community Brain in 2018. The Rail Minister, Huw Merriman MP, later attended Community Rail Week celebrations at SWR’s flagship terminus, London Waterloo.

The Community Brain has delivered successful enterprises at Tolworth including a sustainable creative space equipped with a professional kitchen and meeting space for 20 people, as well as a flourishing community garden which brightens up the station and provides a haven for nature.

Other adoption groups have been involved in a wide range of activities, such as: delivering meals to vulnerable people on the Isle of Wight during the pandemic; installing welcoming art displays in waiting rooms at Kingston and Aldershot; and running free shops at Swaythling and Petersfield, supplying surplus foods and seasonal goods to those in need and cutting down on unnecessary waste.

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director of South Western Railway, commented:

“The bond between South Western Railway and the communities we serve is of great importance to us and our fantastic station adopters have been vitally important in cultivating and deepening that relationship.

“Our station adopters are an integral part of the wider railway family, and it has been wonderful to see the many creative ways that they have contributed to local communities across the network as the number of adoption groups has expanded.

“I congratulate volunteers at Staines on becoming our 100^th station adoption group and I look forward to seeing everything that they will achieve at our award-winning station.”

Nick Charalambous of the Staines Station Adoption Group said:

“We are really proud to be South Western Railway’s 100^th station adopter. Working with Staines station we are able to connect it with the local community through our community garden project.

“This is the borough’s first community garden and to achieve this at Staines station, which is the main transport link in the borough, is great. We are indebted to South Western Railway for their help and funding through their station adoption fund to lease the land for the garden.”

A video marking the milestone of 100 station adopters and highlighting some station adoption groups on the SWR network can be watched here.

More information about station adoption, as well as details regarding how local communities can volunteer to adopt their station, can be found on the SWR website here.