Members of the ‘Heart of Hednesford’ development group have formally adopted the station on London Midland’s Chase Line. The aim is to enhance the station’s appearance as part of the group’s regeneration of the Staffordshire town.
This latest project at Hednesford is a flagship addition to London Midland’s Adopt a Station scheme. Cannock Chase MP, Amanda Milling, has agreed to be Patron of the Hednesford station adoption programme and is keen to help support and profile the work as an example of good practice in community rail.
The 15-strong station adoption team aim to green-up all areas of the station, which is used by over 200,000passengers annually. As well as introducing flower displays onto the station platforms, the team has also been granted a licence by Network Rail to work on areas including the embankment bordering the access path to the Birmingham-bound platform and the areas behind both station platforms.
The group is also part of Hednesford in Partnership which is actively working with key organisations in Hednesford to bring further improvements to the town. One of their current projects also involves the station, having secured £10,000 funding from Staffordshire County Council’s Community Arts Fund. Students from Staffs University Academy and members of the community will be developing a brief and sourcing a local artist to create a permanent art feature on the bridge to further enhance the station gateway.
The Heart of Hednesford was set up in 2013 by current chair David Wisehall and their focus has always been to restore and maintain the historic character of the town. This is the first major project that the group has undertaken.
Chair of Heart of Hednesford David Wisehall said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our group to raise awareness of how important the station is to our community. We’re delighted with the interest we’ve had so far from local residents who want to get involved. And following on from MP Amanda Milling’s campaign to improve the service on the Chase Line, it seemed right that we should approach her to become our patron.”
Robert Hornsey, head of London Midland Chase Line & Cross City services, said: “I am very impressed with the tenacity and vision of Heart of Hednesford and look forward to working with the adoption team, Amanda and community partners to establish further adoptions for all Chase Line stations.”
In another first for Hednesford, Robert will present Amanda and the station adoption team with the first Working with Communities plaque, which serves to officially recognise a community’s new station adoption partnership with London Midland.
Commenting on the station adoption, Amanda Milling MP said “I am so proud of the team for making this project come to fruition. I know how hard David Wisehall and the team have been working to get us to where we are today. The adoption of the station is a huge achievement and the work being done by the group will create a station that provides a genuine ‘Welcome to Hednesford’ and will enhance its importance to the local community – quite literally being at the heart of Hednesford. It was a real honour to be asked to be the Patron of the adoption programme and I look forward to working with the Heart of Hednesford Group as we start to make improvements to the station. This projects demonstrates how by working together a local group can make a real difference to the local community and I see this as being the start of what will be a really exciting community project.”
Faye Lambert, London Midland’s head of community rail said: “Through our Adopt a Station scheme we encourage local groups, individuals and businesses to demonstrate their community pride and work with us to enhance their local London Midland station. If you would like to follow in the proud footsteps of Heart of Hednesford and support your station in this way, please drop us a line to [email protected]“