Give back to the community
Adopt a station and help make a meaningful impact for everyone who passes through its doors, from daily commuters to occasional travellers. Download our guide on how you can contribute to creating a welcoming and safe environment at your local train station.
What is a Station Adopter?
Local train stations are vital to the community, and we aim for all our stations to be inviting, clean, and well-maintained. Many of our stations are unstaffed, and we aren’t always able to visit each one as often as we would like. This is where station adoption plays a crucial role.
Station adopters are volunteers who assist at their local station. Their responsibilities can range from maintaining the gardens and ensuring the station looks presentable to monitoring for any unusual activity and reporting issues. Their efforts create a significant positive impact on every passenger.
Why become a Station Adopter?
The advantages of station adoption are numerous, benefiting health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, community development, and the overall success of the railway. These efforts contribute to the growth and enhancement of both the railway and the local community.
Station adoption is a key part of community rail, a vibrant grassroots movement that spans across Britain. It consists of community rail partnerships that work along railway lines or within regions, as well as station adoption groups and local organisations that help connect communities with their railways.
If you’re seeking an enjoyable and engaging way to connect with the community, make new friends, learn new skills, and take pride in your local station, then station adoption could be the perfect fit for you.
What kind of work is involved?
The work will vary by station, but will always adhere to our safety guidelines. The scope of work will be agreed upon in advance with the station management team. Generally, you may be involved in tasks such as:
- Gardening and landscaping
- Painting over graffiti
- Litter-picking
- Reporting faults or vandalism
Station adopters do not perform repairs on structural elements of buildings or station fixtures, lighting, electrical systems, gas or water, nor do they conduct any work on the tracks or level crossings.
How can I get involved?
We welcome station adoption at the WMT-managed stations throughout the network. To find out which stations we oversee, please check our route map.
If you are interested in ‘adopting’ your local station, please email: [email protected]