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CRL Staff Elected to CRN Board

Community Rail Lancashire is pleased to announce that two of its staff members have just been elected the Board of the Community Rail Network at today’s Annual General Meeting.

Shaiesta Raja and Catherine Kingdom, both members part of CRL’S Education Team, were elected to one of the eight positions available. There were ten nominations and each nominee had to write an election statement and Shahiesta & Catherine’s can be seen below:

STANDING FOR ELECTION: Shahiesta Raja Proposer – Richard Watts, Chair, Community Rail Lancashire Seconder – Katie Douglas, Inclusion Officer, Community Rail Lancashire.

I am an Education Officer at CRL. I have been in this position for five years after being a secondary school teacher for twenty years. Working in this field has helped me to engage with local communities and introduce many people to rail travel that may not have done so otherwise. As well as working with schools and colleges to produce artwork for stations, I have worked with adult community groups to encourage and promote safe and confident rail travel. Working with people new to the country has helped me to understand the obstacles many people face when navigating their way around public transport. I have written and presented best practice papers for CRL and have introduced new initiatives such as World Hijab Day. I presented the Refugee Support Programme by Community Rail Lancashire at the DfT and have lead workshops at CRN and Northern Community Rail conferences. I started a Muslim women’s station adoption group at Accrington Station known as Stations of Welcome. This is the only adoption group of its kind in the country and has been featured in Lancashire Life Magazine and BBC Sunday Morning Live as well as Rail Track Magazine as a great example of diversity within community rail. I am a thoughtful, patient person and extremely enthusiastic about the benefits of community rail. As one of very few Muslim women in community rail, I feel I can bring a new perspective to the role of board member and encourage more diversity within community rail.

STANDING FOR ELECTION: Catherine Kingdom Proposer – Richard Watts, Chair, Community Rail Lancashire Seconder – Karen Bennett, Education Development Officer, Community Rail Lancashire

I have worked at Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) for almost two years, and I am passionate about steering the Community Rail movement to a positive future. I am currently part of the education team at CRL where I project manage the Try the Train programme. Prior to my current role I was a primary school teacher for 20 years and would be happy to bring my skills and expertise in this area to the board. Try the Train is a programme which gives vulnerable and underrepresented groups travel confidence – I would therefore be happy to provide guidance in this area too. In my previous career in Education, I was an assistant headteacher and member of the Senior Leadership Team so I therefore have prior experience of governance, working through difficult situations, managing budgets, finding ways of working differently to ensure things worked for both the pupils and staff within my team. I have not been a member of a board before and would welcome the opportunity to gain new skills whilst shaping the future of Community Rail.

Richard Watts, Chair Community Rail Lancashire said: “It is great news that Shahiesta Raja and Catherine Kingdom have both been elected to the Board of the Community Rail Network at this week’s AGM. Both will bring a wealth of experience to the Board which I know will help shape its future direction and that of the Community Rail Network.”

The eight new members of the Community Rail Network Board cab seen here: communityrail.org.uk/events-and-campaigns/agm-and-board-elections/

The Community Rail Lancashire Board congratulate Shahiesta & Catherine on their successful election to the Community Rail Network Board and wish both them all the best going forward.