Over £5 million awarded for community improvement schemes

Schemes to improve walking and cycling access to and from stations, and projects to address social isolation are just some of the nearly 70 schemes to have been awarded funding from South Western Railway, as the train operator announces the winners of its community improvement fund.

Designed to help boost the local economy, SWR invited bids from its Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF) and today the successful projects from across the South Western Railway network have been revealed.

The funding of nearly 70 projects will see a large number of communities benefiting from the fund. Local authorities across our network have also matched the CCIF funding, with contributions from housing developments to enable schemes which look to provide new walking and cycling routes and improved transport interchange at nearly a dozen stations across our network.

Similarly, CCIF funding will support projects looking at mentoring to young women and people living in disadvantaged communities, alongside several projects that will look to reduce social isolation amongst the elderly with virtual train trips to build up confidence in using public transport when lockdown eases again.

In total 67 schemes successfully won funding, and with match funding a requirement of applying for the SWR Customer and Communities Improvement Fund, over £5 million is now set to benefit local community projects.

For full details of the successful schemes click here.

SWR Commercial and Business Development Director Peter Williams said: “We at SWR recognise only too well the vital role that rail plays in the local as well as the national economy, and I am delighted that we have been able to further support the communities we serve through this funding.

“The first year’s recipients cover a wide range of, and in many cases innovative, projects, and I look forward to them all coming to fruition.”

The winning proposals were selected by a panel of representatives from SWR’s Social and Commercial Development Board, Transport Focus and SWR’s Board, before final approval by the Department for Transport (DfT).