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Community Rail News – 13 November 2024

Hello everyone. We hope you are keeping well.

World leaders are currently coming together for COP29 – a vital opportunity to highlight the role of community rail and public transport in combatting the climate emergency.

The Transport Select Committee also meets for the first time this week. We have written to each of the MPs highlighting the relevant community rail activity in their constituencies.

On the day of our last bulletin, the Chancellor delivered the new government’s budget. We’ve produced a summary of key transport points here. You may also be interested to read NCVO’s analysis for the community and voluntary sector, and be aware of NCVO and ACEVO’s campaigning for exemptions from the NI increase for the third sector and a new Civil Society Covenant, which Community Rail Network is feeding into.

CRPs are advised to study the planned changes to NI and calculate now how these will affect your costs in 2025-26, ensuring these are budgeted for, and informing core funders. Bear in mind that the increase in ‘Employment Allowance’ will offset the added costs for many smaller organisations, but not for CRPs that are part of larger organisations. Find a helpful summary here, and feel free to speak to your usual contact in our support & development team.

Make sure to book onto our Annual General Meeting (AGM), Tuesday 28 January 2025, 2-3.30pm, on Zoom. Please remember there will be an important vote regarding Community Rail Network’s proposal to pursue charitable status. You can read more about why we’re keen to pursue this, the benefits, and how it relates to members, here. We’re also still inviting applications for new board members to play a role shaping the future of our organisation: details here

Our Community Rail Development Fund and Small Grants Fund remain open for applications, although please note the latter is now running low and will soon run out. Find all the key details here and contact grants@communityrail.org.uk with any questions.

Would you like to develop your confidence when presenting on community rail’s work and insights? Join our online training on Tuesday 19 November, 9.30am-1pm, to learn about identifying and refining key messages and communicating these effectively. Members only. Book here.

Next week we will be sharing a toolkit to help members with Railway 200 promotions. This will include a press release template, graphics and example posts for social media. Please speak to the comms & policy team if you’d like support with planning or promoting your activities.

We’re asking members to submit video clips sharing your favourite aspects of community rail and what the movement means to you, which we will use across our promotions next year. Videos should be no longer than 30 seconds and of clear video and audio quality. Send your clips or any queries to our comms & policy team.

Send your stories to news@communityrail.org.uk and see our guidance on submitting stories.

Your next bulletin is on 27 November. Keep up-to-date in between on Facebook, InstagramLinkedIn, TikTok and X.

Best wishes,
Jeremy and Jools




Farnham Station held a community-wide celebration in October to mark its 175th anniversary.  The event, organised and funded by the Wey Valley CRP and South Western Railway, brought together passengers, railway enthusiasts and local historians to honour the station’s rich heritage. The Mayor of Waverley, Cllr John Ward, unveiled a commemorative plaque and a display exploring key milestones in the station’s past, which the CRP plans to turn into a permanent exhibition.
East Lothian CRP supported an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the ‘twinning’ partnership between Dunbar Station and Lignières Station in France. The CRP and TransPennine Express assisted with the cost of train tickets so that the team of volunteers at Dunbar were able to reconnect with their French friends and take the 50-strong delegation on an enjoyable day out by rail to Edinburgh.