Therese's Network Rail Community
Bio About Who You Are and What You Do for Work
As a Kent Community Rail Partnership Project Officer, I connect communities to their railway through local partnerships, groups, organisations, and volunteers. I engage communities at or near the 12 stations along the Kent Downs Line – Ashford International to Otford station. I facilitate projects such as student artwork at Ashford station, a community garden at Charing station and a community café and hub at Hollingbourne station. I try to empower local people to have a greater stake in their local railways and stations, and to access opportunities that may otherwise be out of reach.
What Is the Kent Community Rail Partnership?
Kent CRP promotes rail lines for the social, economic, and environmental benefit of residents and visitors, and to support the social well-being of the local communities.
We engage with communities to adopt their local station, and we support them to make the station a more pleasant place, better serving the local area. Examples include installing planters, travel training with schools or improving accessibility for people with a range of needs. The CRP works with huge numbers of volunteers, running activities and events to promote rail use for education and business as well as leisure and tourism.
How Does the Kent Community Rail Partnership Encourage Active Travel?
Alongside the rail focus, we work with our communities to show them options to reach their local stations by active travel. The partnership is hosted by Sustrans – the charity making it easier to walk, wheel and cycle. Staff lead by example – receiving a work bike to use for business journeys alongside an expectation that they will use the train for the majority of work journeys.
We promote local routes including the National Cycle Network to and from stations, working with the local authority on improving wayfinding and signage. We run stalls at stations and other events which focus on cycle security, personal safety, walking routes, taking cycles on trains, and listening to the challenges of the community in being able to walk or wheel to their local station. We work with a wide diversity of people across the CRP area to break down barriers to active travel and sustainable transport.
By Encouraging Active Travel How Has It Positively Impacted the Workplace?
An actively travelling workforce has been proven to be more productive, take fewer sick days and be more focused. Actively travelling realises a range of benefits for health, the environment, and the economy. When updating the notice boards along the Kent Downs Line I cycle to my local station and use a mix of train travel and cycling between stations. Trains are hourly along this line so updating the notice boards by train alone would take 12 hours, cycling between some stations which can take around 30mins means the whole task can be completed within a working day.