A vibrant new artwork has been unveiled at Chapeltown Station following a collaboration between the station volunteer group, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and the town’s community.

The mural, designed and painted by ArtWorks, adds colour and interest to a plain brick wall and is hoped will help reduce anti-social behaviour at the site. It features a ‘Welcome to Chapeltown’ message and a stylised train to reflect the connection between the railways and local area. The artwork is boarded by leafy vines to highlight a key focus of the group – the environment and biodiversity – which can be seen in their blossoming platform planters, and the village of bat, bird and bug homes they’ve introduced.

At the unveiling event on Wednesday 18 September, the Friends of Chapeltown Station were joined by guests from SYMCA, Community Rail Network, Northern, Penistone Line Partnership, as well as local councillors, business owners and Scout groups.

SYMCA has previously collaborated with Community Rail Network members on a number of projects, including Bishop Line CRP and Northern’s Try the Train programme and working with the Penistone Line Partnership to install customer information screens in community spaces and other art projects at stations.

Cathrine Ashworth, community rail officer at SYMCA, said: “What the Friends of Chapeltown Station have achieved is testament to their drive, creativity and community focus.

“They have helped with the creation of not only this stunning mural, but also floral displays, repainting all the station fencing and railings, organising community-hosted real time rail and bus screens, building shelters for wildlife as well as soon-to-be-unveiled heritage boards. They truly are a group of dedicated and welcoming people.”

Learn more about SYMCA’s work in the community here and see the wider work being developed in the area by Penistone Line Partnership here.