Northern staff celebrate NHS staff and keyworkers with vibrant display at Manchester station

Rainbows and messages of thanks created by members of staff and their children, together with brightly coloured canvas paintings, can be seen on the glass walls and ticket office windows inside the station.

The idea for the display came from Nigel Valentine, Customer Service Assistant at the station, who wanted to pay tribute to the key workers who pass through the station every day – many of whom are on their way to nearby Manchester Royal Hospital and NHS Nightingale or are travelling to Urmston for Trafford General Hospital.  

Nigel said: "I want to thank everyone at Manchester Oxford Road for contributing to this project. We wanted to express our appreciation to the NHS and keyworkers and we will continue to do so by adding to the display as we get more artwork.  

“The canvases were painted by Sue Scully who is a very talented artist. Sue has described her thought process to me of the rainbow canvas as the clouds depict the stormy times we are going through and then the rainbow as the sun shines again.”   

Nigel, who is also a keen photographer, has also been taking pictures of key workers as they make their journeys. The portraits can be seen among the display.  

Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, added: “I want to say a massive thank you to all the team that have put this together. Everyone at Northern is grateful for the fantastic efforts of the NHS and keyworkers during this time - our wonderful staff want to celebrate this, and rightly so.”