Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership

10/06/2026

🎨 We're delighted to launch a new permanent community gallery at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station!

Created in response to feedback from local people through our Connecting Tewkesbury project, the gallery provides a dedicated space for community stories, creativity and connection right at the heart of the station.

The inaugural exhibition featuring artwork by adults facing disabling barriers, developed through our Tewkesbury Wellbeing Walks project in partnership with Art Shape . Originally created as part of the our Tewkesbury wellbeing walks map, these illustrations now have a second life on display for passengers and visitors to enjoy.

The gallery reflects our belief that stations should be more than places to travel through - they should be welcoming spaces that celebrate local people and communities.

A huge thank you to Art Shape for creating and curating the inaugural exhibition, Great Western Railway and their Station Environments team for their support in establishing the gallery at the station, and Community Rail Network and the Department for Transport for funding the project.

📍 Visit the exhibition on Platform 2 at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury station. It's also available to view at our community galleries at Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud and Cam & Dursley train stations.

05/06/2026

Community Rail Week might be coming to an end, but creating welcoming and accessible journeys for everyone continues all year round.

This year’s theme, hashtag , is all about helping more people feel confident using the railway and staying connected to their communities. That’s why we're sharing our local station access maps across Gloucestershire, making it easier to plan journeys, explore stations and discover local links nearby.

Look at our maps for:
📍 Gloucester
📍 Tewkesbury
📍 Stroud

And more!

All our maps are available digitally on our website, or you can message us to request a paper copy.

Because community rail is for everyone, not just during Community Rail Week, but every day of the year

Community Rail Network

03/06/2026

Today, we had the joy of supporting TreasureSeekers for a Travelling with Confidence trip—a fantastic example of how trains open doors to adventure, connection, and independence for everyone!
As part of Community Rail Week, we’re proud to champion the theme “Journeys for All” alongside our partners. Trains aren’t just a way to travel; they’re a gateway to confidence, community, and new experiences. Whether it’s navigating stations, planning routes, or simply enjoying the ride, we’re here to make every journey accessible, enjoyable, and full of possibilities.

A massive thank you to TreasureSeekers for being part of this empowering adventure! Together, we’re proving that everyone deserves the freedom to explore—and that trains make it possible.
Let’s keep creating journeys that inspire, connect, and empower! 💙🚂

Community Rail Network Treasure Seekers

02/06/2026

Yesterday, we were honoured to host the official launch of Community Rail Week, alongside our sister CRP, Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership, and joined by partners including Community Rail Network, Platform, Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway (GWR), Rail Delivery Group, the Department for Transport and local community organisations.

Community Rail Week shines a light on the power of community rail, celebrating the power of partnerships, people, and places that connect communities, strengthen local identity, and make rail accessible, welcoming, and relevant for everyone. This year’s theme, “Journeys for All,” is reflected in everything we do: highlighting that rail is not just a means of travel, but a gateway to opportunity, confidence, inclusion, and belonging.

We were proud to come together to celebrate the work we do, reflecting on the impact community rail partnerships continue to have across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and beyond.

Our journey began at Oxford Station, where we celebrated the official unveiling of a new community mural on Platform 1. Co-created with over 50 young people through three creative workshops, the artwork brings colour, vibrancy, and local identity into the heart of the station, transforming it into a place that reflects the people it serves and welcomes every passenger on every journey.

From there, we continued beyond the station and onto the newly developed Oxford leisure trail. We use stations as gateways, exploring green and blue spaces, highlighting how rail connects us everyday to our wellbeing, leisure, and sustainable travel choices right on the doorstep.

We concluded the day with a visit to Yellow Submarine, a valued local partner we have worked closely with through our Travelling with Confidence programme. Together, we’ve supported 218 young people facing barriers to travel, helping them build the skills, confidence, and independence to use rail safely and inclusively - opening up journeys that many previously felt were out of reach.

As Community Rail Week begins, this event is a reminder that rail is for everyone, and that when communities, industry, and partners come together, we create journeys that are not only possible, but meaningful.

27/05/2026

Transport shapes how we access opportunities, connect with communities and experience Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire County Council is currently asking people to help shape the future of transport in the county through the new Local Transport Plan consultation.

As a Community Rail Partnership, we see every day how transport impacts confidence, independence, access to nature, education, wellbeing and inclusion, especially for young people, rural communities and those who can often feel overlooked in decision making.

Whether you travel by train, bus, bike, mobility aid, car or on foot, or face barriers to travelling at all, your experiences matter.

This is an important opportunity to share:
• what’s working well
• the challenges you face
• what would make transport more accessible, connected and sustainable in the future

We’d especially encourage voices from communities who are often underrepresented in transport planning to take part.

Alongside encouraging people to respond directly to the consultation, we’ll also be preparing our own response response informed by what we hear from communities, partners and passengers across the county.

🗺️ The consultation is open now and takes around 10–20 minutes to complete, closing 24th June.
Find out more and have your say here: https://haveyoursaygloucestershire.uk.engagementhq.com/help-shape-the-future-of-transport-in-gloucestershire?preview=true

14/05/2026

Closing Date: 18th May 2026. Please note that interviewing of suitable candidates will take place as they apply and therefore we encourage you to apply for this position early. We reserve the right to close the job if we find a suitable candidate before the application deadline. Should you be shortl...

14/05/2026

Celebrating a milestone today!

200 people have now been supported through our Travel Proficiency Certificate 🎉

This achievement is about so much more than numbers. It represents 200 individuals building confidence, independence, and essential life skills through learning how to use public transport safely and successfully.

We've been delivering travel training sessions and real life experience for individuals and groups around planning journeys to navigating buses, trains, and stations, and every step taken helps open up more opportunities for education, employment, social connection, and independence.

The feedback speaks for itself:
"I have not been on the train since my husband died 28 years ago... you have made me feel more confident by showing me how to use trains again."
(Staff member) "I'd never do a train by myself let alone with a group with a wheelchair user... it's so much easier than expected! I feel much more confident."

A huge well done to everyone who has taken part, and thank you to all the staff, partners, and supporters who have helped make this possible. We’re excited to continue engaging even more people to travel with confidence.

13/05/2026

What does safety mean to you?

Enter this exciting poetry competition today!

There will be 18 winners in total where their poems will be displayed across the GWR network!

If you’re struggling to think of a safety topic, take a look at Rupee and Sushi travel by train book available free through the rail safe friendly platform.

What does safety mean to you?
Enter our poetry competition today!

Yellow line, breaks, accessibility, change, electricity, help, literature… whatever you think of when it comes to railway safety we would love to hear from you!

There will be 18 winners in total where their poems will be displayed across the GWR network!

If you’re struggling to think of a safety topic, take a look at Rupee and Sushi travel by train book available free through the rail safe friendly platform

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qM9DKAVBZP

06/05/2026

April Access to Nature Round-up 🌱

April was a busy and rewarding time for our Access to Nature projects, with a mix of learning, partnership collaboration and time spent outdoors.

We kicked things off at High School Leckhampton’s Eco Day, where we:
-ran Green Journey Jeopardy with over 140 Year 7 students
-worked with 120 Year 9 students to explore river pollution and solutions water filtration
-shared more than 1,000 educational resources, including wellbeing walks, workbooks and the Cotswolds National Landscape’s new short nature film Cotswolds Field&Folk

Collaboration continued beyond the classroom. With support from our partners Cotswold National Landscapes, we spent a fantastic afternoon at Lake 32 with Tetbury Youth Group, travelling on Gloucestershire County Council’s The Robin and getting out on the water with paddleboarding and kayaking. Alongside this, we delivered travel training focused on building confidence, safety and decision-making when using the railway.

It’s also been great to see partners leading their own brilliant work. Cotswolds National Landscape delivered a hands-on work experience week for Year 10 students, giving real insight into environmental careers through practical, outdoor experiences.

And there’s more to come. World Jungle is bringing partners together for the upcoming Great Big Climate Circus, a creative way to engage communities in climate action. We're looking forward to joining in.

For us, this is what Access to Nature is about. Not one organisation doing everything, but partners bringing different strengths to the table to create something more joined-up, accessible and meaningful for young people, with public transport playing a key role in making those experiences possible.

More to come over the summer as we continue to share and celebrate this work. 🌿

24/04/2026