Our Travelling with Confidence project, grant-funded by the Motability Foundation, has achieved brilliant success in its first year, empowering hundreds of disabled people to develop their confidence, skills and resilience when planning and making trips by rail and connected modes
Since the programme launched in January 2025, the four core delivery partners – Community Rail Lancashire, GOCRP (Gloucestershire CRP and Oxfordshire CRP), Severnside CRP, and Southeast Communities Rail Partnership – have developed relationships with 46 community groups and disabled people’s organisations across the UK, with 72% of them reporting that they intend to continue planning rail trips with the people they support.
These community partnerships have enabled the project team to work with and support 770 people with a wide range of disabilities, exploring individual and collective barriers to travel to collaboratively plan 58 co-created rail trips.
Along with skill building sessions and engagement activities, the experience of actively planning rail travel has led to ever-increasing confidence and resilience, with 85% of beneficiaries telling us that they feel more confident in planning a journey and 89% reporting increased knowledge of how to access assistance.
Faye Keane, community development officer for Severnside CRP, said: “Being involved in the Travelling with Confidence scheme has enabled our partnership to build new relationships with community groups and to learn from their perspectives.
“It’s been a delight seeing participants grow more comfortable with passenger assistance and become more familiar with their local train stations. For many, gaining confidence to travel more independently has opened up everyday possibilities, such as getting to appointments more easily, taking up new hobbies, visiting friends, or just getting a change of scenery.”
As part of the Travelling with Confidence programme, we are offering supports and grants ranging from £2,000-£10,000 to accredited community rail partnerships to set up similar, smaller-scale initiatives in their local areas. Projects must be delivered by December 2026. To find out more and have an informal chat, please contact programme coordinator Ellen Cameron.
Photos courtesy of Severnside CRP.