Women working to improve station in Lancashire say they want to showcase their town

Around 20 women have adopted Accrington Station, which is operated by Northern and used by more than 465,000 people a year.

It began when Shahiesta Raja, from Community Rail Lancashire, invited a small group to meet up and socialise at the station in 2021, after Covid-19 restrictions were eased.

She then told them there was an opportunity to form an adoption group, so they could meet on a regular basis and work together to improve the station.

“It is not something you would usually see a minority community get involved in,” said Neilam Iqbal, treasurer of the group.

“But looking after the environment and looking after our community is something we’ve been taught to do as part of our culture, so when we saw this was open to us, we jumped at the chance.”

The group clean the platform every week and work on a range of artwork projects. They also tend and colourful floral displays and the station garden, which they are planning to transform into a community space.

They have taken part in various charity fundraisers and activities, and taken groups of schoolchildren to visit their mosque in Accrington.

“The station is a big part of Accrington as so many people use it, so we want to look after it and showcase our town,” added Ms Iqbal.

“We want people to see this place and remember it, because there is so much to be proud of here.

“The ladies look forward to this every week. This is a nice space where they can be themselves, enjoy time with their friends and learn something new.”

Ms Raja said: “I don’t think there’s a group like this one and I’m willing to bet it’s the only station adoption group in the country made up of South Asian Muslim women.

“Every Tuesday morning you can see women in hijabs and high-viz on the platform – for me it’s a really nice sight.

“A lot of these women went to school together but lost touch when they got married and got busy with other things. But now they’ve come back and reconnected. It’s become a friendship group.”

Northern operates more than 500 stations and over half of them have adoption groups.

The volunteers work throughout the year to make stations more pleasant and welcoming, by tending to floral displays and station gardens, delivering artwork projects and bringing old buildings back into use for the community.

If you are interested in setting up your own station adoption group, please send an email to [email protected]

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.