TransWilts has been awarded a £20,000 grant from the GWR Customers and Communities Improvement Fund for the renovation of a vacant platform office at Westbury Station.
The space is to be used for an office for the Community Rail Officer and as a meeting room. As a Community Rail Line, TransWilts has access to award funding from the GWR Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
Paul Johnson TransWilts Chair said “ Transwilts were delighted to receive the GWR award for the refurbishment of Westbury Station office. The funding supports an ambitious project to convert the station room for a Transwilts office and a shared meeting place for use by neighbouring community rail partnerships. Westbury is an important meeting hub for Wiltshire rail services and it makes an ideal location for a meeting room. The funding allows sympathetic refurbishment of a listed building space”
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: “We at GWR recognise only too well the vital role that rail plays in local and the national economy, and I am delighted that we have been able to continue to support the communities we serve with this funding.
“This year’s entrants include a wide and staggering range of projects, many showing the innovation that the area has become renowned for, and I look forward to them all coming to fruition.”With match funding, the total investment being made in the Wiltshire area community will top £25,000.”
All the proposals were presented to a panel of representatives from GWR’s Customer Panel (made up of local customers), the Advisory Board (made up of local stakeholders), and the executive management team. Final recommendations were then put to the Department for Transport (DfT) for approval. Supported by the DfT, the Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF) was established to recognise and back projects identified by the communities where GWR operates, with projects requiring local authority match funding.
Sophie Martin will be working with James Wilcox – Westbury Station Manager to deliver the refurbishment project in 2019.
Photos James Wilcox Station Manager and the Westbury Station room to be refurbished
