CrossCountry’s Community Engagement Fund has contributed towards a £204,000 project to repaint Sleaford station and convert an unused space into a community room. Two years of collaboration by various partners, including CrossCountry, was celebrated on 24 August at an official opening ceremony on the station platform.
The new community space – named The Old Waiting Room - will be an asset to the area providing generous space for local schools and groups to learn about the railway, as well as a place where other local groups could meet or hold events.
The building also includes a water harvesting system so that Station Adopters - volunteers from the community who help out at their local station - can keep the site's garden beds looking their best for customers.
As part of the project the rest of the station also received a new coat of paint. The painting was carried out in close collaboration with Rail Heritage Trust to ensure the correct London North Eastern Railway heritage colours of Buckingham Green and cream were chosen.
The work at Sleaford was jointly funded by a number of organisations, including CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, the Rail Heritage Trust, and the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership.
David Jones, Stakeholder Liaison Manager, CrossCountry said “CrossCountry links with the Poacher Line at Nottingham providing connectivity to the West Midlands, Wales and the South for people travelling from and to Sleaford station. We are delighted to support our Community Rail Partnerships with funding for great restoration projects like this that breathe new life into disused station buildings which can then be used by local community groups.”
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