The Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) have continued their association with Barnies Community Hub in Crewe, by commissioning and installing some animal houses made by the Barnies volunteers.

Barnies Community Hub provides support to adults with physical and/or mental disabilities and to their carers, through activities such as a community garden, woodwork, a computer club, and other art projects. Barnies is a charity nominated by Barry Burkhill, a FoHS committee member who passed away in November 2022 and is greatly missed.

In their latest collaboration, the Barnies participants have provided bird boxes and other animal homes to FoHS, made in a workshop in the Barnies Community Hub garden, which is located next to Crewe locomotive works.

To celebrate the installation of the new animal homes, FoHS invited member of Barnies to Handforth for a tour of the station and its many artworks (ably assisted by Northern Community Officer Becky Styles). The party then enjoyed refreshments in The Railway Pub next to Handforth Station; these were provided free of charge by the landlady as a “service for the local community”.

Lesley Christiansen from the Barnies Community Garden woodcraft team said: “We were very pleased to be able to support the work of Friends of Handforth Station. We have provided a number of bird boxes, hedgehog homes and bat boxes, to encourage and protect the wildlife that lives around Handforth Station.”

Ian Ball, Treasurer of FoHS who accompanied the Barnies visitors, said: “People often forget that the large number of trees and bushes around a small station like Handforth attracts not only birds but other wildlife. We hope that the constructs provided by Barnies will encourage their proliferation.”

You can keep up with future news, projects, and events from the Friends of Handforth Station via their website.