Ore-some improvement at station
Co-operation between Southeast Communities Rail Partnership (SCRP), Groundwork South – Greener Futures, train operating company Southern and Network Rail has brought about significant improvements to the environment at Ore Station, in Hastings. A team of volunteers from Greener Futures worked for two days on a large scale litter pick, renewed the planter plants, and raked over the soil.
As part of the rewilding programme, wild flower seeds have been planted in both the planters and the soil behind platform 2 to attract pollinators, since there is much tree and vegetation growth around the station, and it improves the biodiversity of the station area.
The planters were cleaned and given a coat of wood stain to provide both protection and improve the appearance.
Trevor Davies, Station Partner at Ore and a member of the SCRP’s Marshlink line steering group, said :- “I cannot thank Jill Tyson and her team from Greener Futures enough for all they have done, and look forward to seeing the seeds bloom in a colourful way as Spring gives way to Summer. I’m also very grateful to Catherine Simmons, the SCRP Marshlink line officer for introducing us to Groundwork South – Greener Futures, which has been so productive.”
Jill Tyson from Greener Futures commented :- “‘This was a great project to be involved with, the volunteers really enjoyed making the improvements to the station. It was especially nice to be running volunteer sessions again after the restrictions over the past year. We hope that we can help to make people’s journeys into and out of Ore a bit more special and are keen to get more people involved with volunteering in the future.’
Kevin Boorman, chair of the SCRP Marshlink line added :- “I used to commute from Ore to London myself many years ago, and it was great to see so many volunteers working so hard at the station. We all need to work extra hard to get more people travelling by train over the coming months, and improving the station’s appearance in this way makes a real difference. We are really grateful to everyone who gave up their time to improve the station, and especially to Trevor Davies for organising it all.”
Groundwork’s Greener Future project is funded by CHART ‘Connecting Hastings and Rother Together’. They provide volunteering, training and employability opportunities within the local area. For more details please contact the team at greenerfutures@groundwork.org.uk or visit https://www.groundwork.org.uk/hubs/south/greener-futures/ for more information.
Pics show the station clean-up underway
