This category recognises community rail’s vital role in engaging, inspiring and empowering children and young people (under 26) with their railways, from travel confidence and educational schemes to youth-led volunteering and creative projects. We are especially keen to see projects that promote sustainable travel, life skills, inclusion, and wellbeing, and which draw on children and young people’s views and ideas.

Entries invited from:

We invite entries from community rail partnerships, station adoption or friends’ groups, or other community groups and representatives. Rail industry partners can submit entries where a project was undertaken in partnership with a community rail partnership or community group, but the entry must clearly demonstrate this partnership working, be agreed with the community partner(s), and their contact details provided.

Judging criteria: 

• Empowering and awareness raising – it successfully shared knowledge, opportunities and/or awareness, for example about rail travel, local history, culture or environment;
• Improving mobility, confidence or life skills – there was a positive impact on children’s, young people’s or families’ ability, understanding, perception of and confidence to access rail, use sustainable travel, or other life skills;
• Engaging, enjoyable and beneficial – there is evidence it was well-received and those involved saw benefits to mobility, inclusion, health, wellbeing, confidence or awareness;
• Interactive and drew on children/young people’s input – it enabled interaction with and between young members of the community, drawing on their ideas and views, or was youth-led.