CRL - Community Rail Lancashire

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Let’s Go Fly A Kite

On Friday 14th July 2017 Community Rail Lancashire and Heyhouses Primary School completed the ‘Heyhouses Art and Wildlife project’ with a celebration at St. Annes-on-the-Sea station.

The project has been ongoing since December 2016 with a range of community groups involved including, Friends of St. Annes Stations and Park View 4 U. The project has seen 90 year 4 children get involved with uplifting their local station to highlight what St. Annes has to offer to passengers using the train, they have brightened up the station with a 4.8 metre planter hosting a variety of herbs and plants suitable for wildlife such as bees to pollinate, bird boxes and bug houses for insects to inhabit the station, and vibrant artwork highlighting the ‘International Kite Festival, Beach houses and wildlife that can be seen at St. Annes, all with the help of their local artist and Forest School leader Julie Norman.

Heyhouses came to the station on Friday to celebrate the completion of the project. Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) and the Friends of St. Annes Stations set up a gazebo which displayed the project with pictures, the children’s pebbles, lighthouses, driftwood kites they had made, and their journey to Preston on the train with CRL. 90 children came to the station along with their class teachers and head teacher followed by many parents who had come to the station to look at their children’s project work. The Town Crier and Town Mayor opened the event giving thanks to those involved and read a lovely letter from the ‘bugs’ that now live at the station thanking the children of Heyhouses for providing them with a home. 3 Year 4 children also gave speeches to thank all those involved for their help unveiling their artwork to family, teachers, and friends showing them around the station.

The community atmosphere was brilliant with lots of compliments to Heyhouses school for their fantastic level of engagement and enthusiasm in this project. Special thanks also go to those groups that made it possible through funding including the Department of Transport, the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, St. Annes Town Council, local train operator Northern and CRL.