Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) has been successful in securing two grants from Northern Railway’s Community Project Fund.
The first project being led by Beth Nolan, a Community Rail Officer with CRL, will see the cycle shelter at Croston station on the Preston to Ormskirk Line redesigned. It will be transformed by the enthusiastic pupils at Croston’s Trinity & St Michael’s CE & Methodist Primary School with the help of local artist Gosha Gibek, who has worked on previous project with CRL and an image of artwork on display at Clitheroe station can be seen below.
Artwork on display at Clitheroe station – © Gosha Gibek
Beth, CRL’s Community Rail Officer on the West of Lancs lines says: “I am wheelie excited to see what the children and Gosha will create together. I have no doubt they’ll do a fantastic job!”
After a Rail Safety talk led by Beth last week, and an abundance of questions around keeping safe near the tracks, the Year 4’s and Gosha will take a train trip to Mere Sands Wood in Rufford, to get some inspiration for their artwork. There they will learn about natural habitats in the area and Gosha will guide the children through some outdoor sketching activities.
The second project is being led by Katie Douglas, CRL’s Accessibility & Inclusion Officer and is called ‘Against the Tide’, a youth-led photography and storytelling project across the Fylde line.
The project will bring the voices and perspectives of young people from Blackpool into station environments, sharing personal stories of place, identity and everyday life by the sea. A series of photographic posters will be displayed at stations between Preston and Blackpool South, alongside a larger curated exhibition at Blackpool North.
Blackpool at Sunset – photo © The Guardian
Against The Tide is part of a wider national programme supported by The Guardian, connecting young people from coastal towns across the UK through photography, creative writing and visual storytelling. In Blackpool, the project has been developed in collaboration with lead photographer Claire Griffiths, who has been working closely with participants to explore what their town means to them and what they would want others to see and understand.
Funding from Northern will enable Community Rail Lancashire to deliver the rail-based exhibition element, transforming stations along the route into a linear gallery. The poster trail will launch during Community Rail Week in June, followed by a focal exhibition at Blackpool North later in the summer, culminating in a public launch event.
Katie from Community Rail Lancashire said: “We’re really pleased to have secured support from Northern for this project. It’s a great opportunity for young people from Blackpool to share their stories and perspectives, and to see their work presented in public spaces along the Fylde line.”
