- Groups can become community station adopters (see below).
- Join one of our three Line Groups and bring fresh ideas to our Annual Action Plan. Be prepared to give your time, enthusiasm, and skills to help deliver your proposals.
G
et Involved
Volunteering
At Kent CRP we are always looking for new volunteers to get involved with projects and activities along our three lines.
When volunteering, you can expect to be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness by everyone on the Kent CRP team. Volunteering is and should be for everyone.
There are lots of ways that you can support our work. Feel free to look around the Kent CRP and Community Rail Network websites for inspiration, and tell us about your own ideas too.
- Helping us at events in your local community. e.g. assisting at promotional stalls, engaging in passenger surveys.
- Sharing your skills on a pro-bono basis. e.g. creating content for social media campaigns, drafting surveys for use at events, taking photos for our website and social media, developing ALT text for images to make our website and social media more accessible.
- Acting as a Walk Assistant on our led walks.
Meet our Volunteers
Follow this link to hear from some of our volunteers about why they support us and help Community Rail to flourish.
There are additional volunteering opportunities through our partnership with Sustrans to access resources and training to prepare you to run promotional stalls, or to support our led walks and cycle rides.
Station Adoption
More and more community groups and individuals are adopting their local station. It’s all about local pride and seeing the station as an important part of the community. Railway companies have seen a rise in the use of adopted stations, less vandalism and in many cases externally-funded improvements.
Station Adoption Groups can undertake a wide variety of activities, ranging from feeding in comments, the provision of station enhancements such as gardens and planters, cycle racks through to art work and signage. Station adoption is a way of transforming stations, bringing them into the heart of the community and encouraging greater use of environmentally friendly public transport.
But there are some simple things which groups need to be aware of. Safety must be paramount! You also need to make sure that whatever you do, has the agreement of the train operating company and Network Rail, though they are very supportive of communities adopting their station.
To find out more about Station Adoption you can contact us at the Kent Community Rail Partnership or visit Community Rail Network for more information.This tells you how to go about setting up an adoption group and has lots of examples of what station adopters have achieved at stations around the country. Click the link to view the Station Adoption booklet produced by Community Rail Network: Station Adoption Booklet.
Network Rail’s Community Scheme
If your station adoption scheme also covers land that is not in the Southeastern lease then you may be able to do something with it via Network Rail’s Community Scheme. This enables voluntary groups to look after disused areas of Network Rail land, such as disused platforms, land adjoining stations, or land underneath viaducts. Groups keep the area tidy, pick up litter and trim vegetation. Some grow flowers, vegetables and herbs in tubs or planters.
Network Rail has devised precautions, based on the safety procedures for their track workers, to keep volunteers away from the danger of moving trains and make sure they don’t cause problems for the operating railway. They assess each proposal for a scheme in the light of these.
Adopted and Community Stations
Medway Valley Line
Aylesford – Aylesford Station Adoption Group
Cuxton – Friends of Cuxton Station
Halling – In progress
Maidstone West – Maidstone CAN
Snodland – Five Acre Wood (Snodland)
Tonbridge – The Oaks Specialist College (Southeast CRP)
Wateringbury – Dave Mitchelmore
Swale Rail Line
Sittingbourne – EKC Sheppey Secondary & 4th Milton Regis (St Mary’s) Cubs
Kemsley – EKC Sheppey Secondary
Swale Halt – EKC Sheppey Secondary
Queenborough – EKC Sheppey Secondary & Queenborough Town Council
Sheerness-on-Sea – EKC Sheppey Secondary
Kent Downs Line
Ashford – Ashford College
Bearsted – Bearsted CAN
Borough Green and Wrotham – Friends of Borough Green and Wrotham Station
Charing (Ashford Bound) – Heath Farm School
Charing (London Bound) – Charing Parish Council
Lenham – Lenham School
Maidstone East – Valley Park School
West Malling – Grow 19
Hollingbourne Station on the Kent Downs Line is a Community Station- https://www.thestationathollingbourne.com
Contact Us
If you want to get involved, please get in touch.
We are commited to ensuring the welfare of our volunteers. If you are under 18 years of age and wish to get involved, please discuss your plans with a parent or guardian and ask them to contact us on your behalf.
The Kent Community Rail Partnership is hosted by Sustrans and follow their Data and Privacy Policy
Alternatively please email or phone one of our Project Officers to answer your questions:
Therese Hammond – Kent Downs Line: 07917 131248 therese.hammond@sustrans.org.uk
Gary Outram – Medway Valley Line: 07787 434258 gary.outram@sustrans.org.uk
Vicky Wright – Swale Rail Line: 07717 470593 vicky.wright@sustrans.org.uk
