Reading Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (CRP) has collaborated with Creative Lives, Reading Borough Council and BBC Radio Berkshire to produce a piece of mindful artwork for Reading Green Park Station.

In August 2024, Creative Lives, an organisation that supports and encourages people to be creative in their everyday lives, led a series of workshops in collaboration with artist and writer Roshni Beeharry for ten local residents at Whitely GrowAllot, a community allotment in South Reading.

Participants produced poetry on the theme of journeys, identity, nature and migration, which are now on display for passengers to enjoy whilst waiting for their train.

The project was part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Lucy Lomax, Reading Basingstoke CRP officer, said: “It is wonderful to know that passengers travelling through Reading Green Park Station will have the opportunity to enjoy a moment of mindfulness.

“The exhibition is a wonderful tribute to cultural diversity, and the journeys people make to and from South Reading.”

Tom Butler, station manager for Reading Green Park, said: “We are proud to host this creative celebration at Reading Green Park Station. Forming creative spaces at our stations is something very close to our hearts at Great Western Railway, and we hope these poems will provide our customers and the wider community with a welcome moment of mindfulness to get their journeys off to a peaceful start.”

Roshni Beeharry, artist and writer, said: “Writing and sharing our reflections is a wonderful way to come together as a community. I loved facilitating the two workshops in the different weather conditions of Whitley GrowAllot. Week one was sunny and dry, week two we dodged in and out of rain showers!

“The group immersed themselves in the varying sensory richness of the allotment to produce wonderful pieces of writing and shared memories.”

Faye Harland, senior producer at BBC Radio Berkshire, said: “BBC Radio Berkshire is proud to support the work Creative Lives has been doing in the community in Reading to unlock creativity and expression.”

Keep up to date with future news, projects and events from Reading Basingstoke CRP via their website.