Your Station Your Community Improvement Fund
GTR is launching a new fund, called the ‘Your Station, Your Community, Improvement Fund ’, to support local charities, our customers, and the communities on our line of route, focusing on the causes that are of key importance to us.
The fund supports the following key themes: mental health, education, and employability skills amongst marginalised groups, as well as diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability. Over the next three years, GTR will be allocating up to £500,000 a year to fund projects based up to 15 miles from stations on our network. They welcome applications from registered charities, community groups and other not-for-profit organisations such as rail user groups, community rail partnerships, business partnerships, town councils, parish councils and schools.
What they are looking for:
They are welcoming applications for initiatives taking place within 15 miles of stations on our network, that make a positive impact in one or more of the focus areas listed below. For a route map click here
Enhancing our stations to be a welcoming environment
- Regenerating redundant station spaces for community hubs, providing space for activities that enrich the local community and bringing station estate back into use. Creating a welcoming ambience to our stations enhancing our customers’ experience.
Positive Mental Health
- Mental health activities that encourage working with local partners to signpost people to support services or initiatives that have a positive impact on people’s wellbeing. Connecting people together to take positive action to prevent suicide an issue that has a devasting and far-reaching impact on our people, customers and communities.
Diversity and Inclusion
- Supporting diverse and inclusive community projects, creating opportunities for learning and the social mobility of more marginalised groups. Our ambition is to create an inclusive culture where customers and colleagues feel able to be themselves and feel they belong to their local communities.
Employability and confidence building
- Promoting employability and education amongst marginalised groups by investing in skills development for now and the future, creating a talent pipeline to support the local economy.
Environmental Sustainability
- Supporting environmental projects and encouraging sustainable mobility shift encourages customers to make greener choices to travel by rail and get to our stations sustainably – by bike, bus, foot or electric car.
How to apply
There is an online application form which will go live on 28th June 2022 and will close at 23:59 on 30th July 2022. More information will be released with more details, including links to the website, online portal and application toolkit. This information will be updated on the Support Cambridgeshire website, or contact your local CVS.
To make the application process accessible to all GTR also have an editable word formatted version available that can be downloaded, completed and returned to: community@gtrailway.com.
If other alternatives are still required to complete the application form then please make contact via the email address provided, leaving your contact details, organisation details, and any special requirements you need to complete the form.
Read the Guide to Applying here.
You can also read the FAQs for answers to your questions about the application process.
Timelines
- Applications open: 28 June 2022
- Applications close: 30 July 2022
- Review: July – September 2022
- Submitted to DfT: December 2022
- Notification: Q1 2023
- Funding received: April 2023
- Funding spent and fully committed: 31 March 2024
Contact details
