Community Rail Awards 2025 now open for Entries! Click here to read more.

Involving Children and Young People

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.

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.

  • Clear demonstrable evidence of the impact of the project is essential
  • 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.

'Involving Children and Young People' is sponsored by LNER.

At LNER we are incredibly proud to be sponsoring the ‘Involving Children and Young People’ category at this year’s Community Rail Awards. Supporting and connecting local communities along our route is at the heart of everything we do at LNER. The work of our phenomenal community rail partners perfectly complements our responsible business priorities of creating a railway which is better for people, better for places and better for planet. All this year’s entrants deserve a huge well done and a massive congratulations to those shortlisted!

2026 1st Place Winner – Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership (GOCRP) for 'Youth Transport Forum'

Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership (GOCRP) recognised that despite being keen to travel via more sustainable means, young people still face a range of barriers restricting their access to public transport. To address this, and establish meaningful youth engagement across the region, GOCRP set up the Youth Transport Forum, providing a platform for young people to have their voices heard on transport.

Anyone aged 16-25 and based in Gloucestershire or Oxfordshire could apply to participate in the forum. Over four youth-led workshop sessions which involved research, debate and presentations, 11 delegates identified the key transport gaps, barriers and priorities for young people – accessibility, education and affordability. They then designed six innovative solutions that would address these challenges, including ideas on how to better integrate cycling and bus travel, and a comprehensive travel education curriculum.

GOCRP also put together a Youth Transport Survey based on insights from the forum sessions. Delegates submitted questions they wanted to include and GOCRP was thrilled to receive 913 responses from young people in the region.

The fantastic ideas from the forum sessions, as well as the data from the survey, were included in GOCRP’s 2025 Youth Transport Report, providing a comprehensive summary of the transport priorities for young people and the solutions they propose. The report was positively received by stakeholders and media outlets including BBC Radio Gloucestershire, and is already being used to influence change in the region, being referenced by key partners in conversations around youth transport access.

 

2025 1st Place Winner - Robin Hood Line CRP for 'Fusion Learning'

‘Fusion Learning’, a partnership project between Robin Hood Line CRP, Bolsover District Council, Engineered Learning, East Midlands Railway, Direct Education Business Partnership, Community Rail Network and CrossCountry, provided a group of young people with not only practical experience and a recognised qualification, but also a supportive environment in which to harness their creativity, nurture their aspirations and boost their confidence.

12 students aged 14-16, previously at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), were given the opportunity to learn fabrication and welding in an authentic workshop environment, gaining knowledge and transferrable skills to take with them as they move on to work, apprenticeships or further education. Over the course of 24 sessions at Engineered Learning, the students worked together to design and produce prototypes of their chosen design – a woolly mammoth – before creating the final, large-scale metal sculpture. The new landmark now sits proudly at Creswell Station.

All 12 students completed the course and earnt a Level 1 NCFE Award in Industry-Specific Engineering Skills, as well as going on to complete their academic studies at school. Several students have since embarked upon apprenticeships, with one even joining the Royal Engineers. The project has also been extended for another year to continue providing vital education opportunities for young people.

Check out previous 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of this category from 2017-2022.

Entries for our 2027 Awards open at 9am on Tuesday 1 September and close at 5pm on Wednesday 30 September 2026.

Check back then to submit your entry!