People in Essex are discovering the benefits of travelling by train thanks to the Essex and Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and Greater Anglia.
The CRP is running four special event trains aimed at providing a day out for disadvantaged and/or vulnerable groups who do not usually travel by train.
The events have been funded by Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Improvement Fund, which provided £3,350 to enable the initiative to be taken forward.
Three out of the four trips have already taken place. The first trip was for members of Colchester’s ‘Heart of Greenstead’ group for families living with poverty, who travelled to Clacton to see a pantomime at the Prince’s Theatre.
The second trip involved a group of students with learning disabilities from Shorefields School sixth form in Clacton, who travelled by train to Colchester Castle, many of them experiencing train travel for the first time.
The third trip engaged around 40 Afghan, Iranian, Syrian, Indian and Ukrainian families Harwich RAMA (Refugee, Asylum seeker and Migrant Action). The group took three different trains from Harwich to Colchester, where they enjoyed lunch, took part in an African drumming lesson and explored Colchester Castle Park.
Jane Stewart, Essex and South Suffolk CRP officer, said: “This initiative is providing many people with the opportunity to travel on a train for the first time, explore their local areas and enjoy a day out and activities that they would not normally be able to. We are very grateful to Greater Anglia for supporting these trips.”
Scott Dolling, Greater Anglia’s partnerships manager, said: “We are pleased to support this initiative which is helping to introduce people to rail travel and help them build confidence, which could ultimately help to connect them to work, social and leisure opportunities in the future.
“We are always looking to enhance the role of the railway in support of the community it serves, and our new Customer and Community Improvement Fund is a way of supporting more locally focused enhancements in line with community needs.”
Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from Essex & South Suffolk CRP via their website.
