Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership

23/09/2026

A fond farewell and a warm welcome!

At our recent AGM meeting, we said a big thank you to Jon Harris, who has stepped down as Chair of Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership.

Jon has chaired the Partnership since its inception in 2020, supporting GCRP through six years of growth, change and new opportunities across Gloucestershire. His leadership, encouragement and thoughtful challenge have helped shape the Partnership and the way we work with communities, partners and transport decision-makers.

As Jon reflected in our recent Impact Report, the dedication of our Steering Group, staff team and partners has been central to GCRP’s journey. We’re grateful for everything Jon has brought to that journey and for his belief in the value of community-led approaches to transport.

We wish Jon all the very best for the future and thank him for his contribution to GCRP.

We’re also delighted to welcome Samyutha Balasubramaniam as our new Chair.

Samyutha brings extensive experience in customer service leadership, transformation and strategy within the rail industry. Through her career at Great Western Railway, she has worked across customer service, operational improvement, community engagement and organisational change. She is passionate about creating better experiences for customers and communities, building strong partnerships, and making rail more accessible and inclusive.

As Chair, Samyutha will bring this experience to her work with GCRP, supporting our independent, community-focused approach and our role in connecting community voices with transport decision-makers.

We’re looking forward to working with Samyutha as we begin the next chapter of GCRP and continue working towards a more inclusive, positive and sustainable public transport system that connects people and communities across Gloucestershire.

17/09/2026

National Inclusion Week 2026 | Build Trust. Navigate Change.

For many people, catching a train is something they do without a second thought. For others, it can feel daunting, overwhelming or simply out of reach.

That's why our Travel Proficiency Certificate programme is so important.

Working alongside disabled people and others who face barriers to travel, we support people to build the confidence, skills and independence to make journeys that matter to them. Whether it's travelling to work, meeting friends, attending appointments or exploring somewhere new, every journey is a step towards greater independence.
But the programme isn't just about travel. It's about building trust, listening to lived experience and learning from the people who use our transport network every day.

The conversations we have, the challenges participants share and the successes they celebrate help us better understand what an inclusive transport system should look like. We take those insights and work with industry partners to influence positive change, helping make rail travel more accessible and welcoming for everyone.

This year's National Inclusion Week theme, Build Trust. Navigate Change., feels particularly relevant to our work. Real change happens when people feel heard, valued and included. It happens when organisations listen and take action.
We're incredibly proud of everyone who has taken part in the Travel Proficiency Certificate programme. Their experiences, ideas and determination continue to shape our work and inspire us to keep improving.

Together, we're helping create a future where more people can travel with confidence and where public transport works better for us all.

11/09/2026

Yesterday showed us what we can achieve when we work together!

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday at the stunning Oxford Town Hall for our joint GCRP and OxCRP Partnership Celebration.

The event was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the power of partnership and the impact we can achieve when we work together. We reflected on our shared successes, recognised all that we have accomplished collectively, and looked ahead to exciting future opportunities.

It was fantastic to connect with colleagues and partners who share their time, expertise, and belief in what community rail can achieve when we work together.

The event also marked the launch of our 25/26 Impact Report. Through travel confidence programmes, research, accessibility initiatives and youth engagement, we connected with over 5000 community members and supported nearly 2000 young people last year alone. But we know that the numbers are not what is important here - it is about who and what they represent: more confident travellers, more inclusive places, stronger community voice and better evidence for partners and decision-makers. They also show an organisation growing in maturity and capacity, so we can work smarter and create deeper impact with communities.

Missed the event? Don’t worry! You can download our 25/26 Impact Report and learn more here 🔗https://17d74e0c-fd3e-4fe6-afe4-ec80d3ec8919.filesusr.com/ugd/89ad7f_625943e26ce04e929486a905466b5225.pdf

We look forward to continuing our work together and building on this success in the years ahead.

08/09/2026

📖 We've listened. We've learned. Now we're inviting you to read and reflect.

The On Track for Inclusive Train Travel Discovery Report is now live.

Funded by the Motability Foundation and delivered by a partnership between the Royal National Institute of Blind People ( RNIB ), Community Rail Network , Community Rail Lancashire and Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership, the project set out to understand how disabled people experience train travel, what barriers they face, and where the greatest opportunities for change lie.

At the heart of the report are the voices of disabled passengers. As Community Rail Partnerships, we were uniquely placed to connect with disabled people in our communities, build trust, facilitate meaningful conversations and amplify lived experience throughout the project. The report reflects not only what people told us, but the value of community-led engagement in shaping a more inclusive railway.

Their experiences highlight the importance of approachable staff, clear information, confidence throughout the journey, and opportunities to shape decisions that affect them. The findings are honest, challenging and optimistic in equal measure.

At GCRP, we believe lasting change happens when communities are listened to, evidence is taken seriously, and solutions are developed together. This report provides a foundation for that conversation and demonstrates the opportunities to strengthen communication, build trust, embed lived experience more deeply in decision-making, and work together to turn insight into action.

👉 Read the report and accessible summaries on our website

01/09/2026

🌿 Skill-share: Trails and Walking Routes

We’re pleased to be taking part in Community Rail Network ’s Skill-share: Trails and Walking Routes session on Tuesday 15 September.

Our Development Manager, will be sharing learning from our co-produced Tewkesbury Wellbeing Walks - a project developed with the local community to create walking routes that support wellbeing and connection to place.

The session will explore practical learning from across the community rail network, including co-design, accessibility and inclusive approaches, delivering walking activities and measuring outcomes.

- Tuesday 15 September
- 2–3:30pm
- Online
- Open to Community Rail Network members

Find out more and book your place: https://f.mtr.cool/4gv2o09ibr

We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve learned and hearing from other CRPs working to make walking and local routes more inclusive and meaningful.

24/08/2026

Two journeys. New experiences. More confidence travelling independently.

Our Access to Nature programme has been encouraging young people to explore new places, try new activities and build confidence using sustainable transport.

🚆 Students from Al Ashraf School travelled by train to Stratford Park in Stroud, spending the day exploring the park and local green space - a space none of the young people had visited before.
🛶 Young people from Tetbury Youth travelled on The Robin to Lake 32, where they took part in kayaking and paddleboarding activities.

These trips are about more than a day out. They give young people the opportunity to build confidence using public transport and access outdoor spaces they may not otherwise visit.

Following the trips:
✅ 89.5% of participants reported increased travel confidence
✅ 65% felt more confident accessing natural spaces

By combining sustainable travel with new experiences in nature, young people are developing the confidence to travel, explore and connect with their communities.

A huge thank you to our partners at Cotswolds National Landscape, Tetbury Youth, The Robin, Al Ashraf Secondary School and everyone else who helped make these experiences possible.

23/08/2026

19/08/2026

Last week, members of our team attended Access to Nature: Making Change Happen in Gloucestershire, hosted by Barnwood Trust to celebrate the opening of the new Access to Nature Hub.

The event brought together organisations and individuals working to remove barriers that prevent people from connecting with nature, creating space to share ideas, experiences and practical solutions.

One of the most powerful moments came from keynote speaker Bethany Handley, who spoke about the importance of joy, belonging and access for disabled and marginalised communities. Her reflection that "Access doesn't begin on site - it begins at the kitchen table" resonated strongly with our work.

This reinforced something we see every day through our Access to Nature programme: access is about more than the destination. It is about confidence, information, transport options and feeling that a place is for you.

Over the past six years, our work has evolved from supporting individuals to make journeys with confidence to working alongside partners to influence how transport and access are considered from the outset. Events like this are an important reminder that lasting change happens when organisations come together to challenge barriers and shape more inclusive systems.

Thank you to Barnwood Trust for bringing people together and for their continued commitment to creating a Gloucestershire where more people can access and enjoy nature.

12/08/2026

🎙️ We're proud to feature in the first-ever episode of All Aboard, the new Community Rail Network Podcast, recorded during Community Rail Week hosted by ourselves and our sister organisation Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership back in June.

Our Chief Executive, Hannah McDonnell, and Access & Inclusion Lead, Bee Clark, share their thoughts on the impact of community rail as a grassroots movement and the positive difference it makes to communities across the region.

🎧 Tune in and discover how community rail is connecting people, places and opportunities.
Listen here: https://sites.libsyn.com/626090

11/08/2026

VENUE ANNOUNCED......

The power of partnership and working together 💚

We’re delighted to invite you to a very special occasion, the GOCRP CIC Partnership Celebration.

This annual event brings together our sister community rail partnerships, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. It will take place on Thursday, 10th September, from 1.00pm to 4:00pm, at Oxford Town Hall.

This year marks some fantastic milestones: 6 years of Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership (GCRP) and 3 years of Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership (OXCRP).

Last year, we celebrated in Gloucestershire, so it’s only right we bring the festivities to Oxfordshire in 2026.

The event is all about celebrating the power of partnership and working together. It’s a brilliant opportunity to reflect on what we’ve achieved, look ahead to what’s coming, network with others, and spark new ideas together.

We’d be thrilled to have you with us to mark this shared journey and all the work that you have done to make community rail thrive.

If you would like to attend, RSVP to [email protected]

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