Double delight for Bishopstone station volunteers in national rail awards

Barbara Mine, Friends of Bishopstone Station, won the prize for Outstanding Volunteer Contribution at the Community Rail Awards. The Friends group were in second place in the Most Enhanced Railway Spaces category for converting the Old Parcel Room at the station into a thriving community hub.

Barbara said: “I’m absolutely delighted and overwhelmed with the award. It’s a team effort and we all get involved. Everyone has been amazing. There’s so much more that needs to be done within our station community including the station building itself.”

Barbara has led the volunteers at Bishopstone station on the Seaford to Brighton rail line since the group started in early 2017. The team has worked with rail operators and industry organisations to raise funds and restore the Art Deco building which dates from 1938. A new community hub was opened at the station in November 2022.

Tim Barkley, chair of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership Community Interest Company, said: “We are delighted that our projects proved to be winners with the wider Community Rail Network. Well done to all the people involved in these excellent schemes, in particular the dedicated volunteers who work at the stations to make them a welcoming space.

“All the staff and directors at Southeast CRP congratulate everyone involved in the winning projects. It is pleasing that our collaborative approach with our partners has been recognised.”

The Community Rail Awards were held at Swansea Arena on Monday 18 March. More than 430 guests included senior rail and transport leaders and community rail officers and volunteers. The event recognised projects supporting diversity, accessibility and inclusion, sustainable travel and tourism, youth and schools engagement, community-led station improvements, empowered communities and influencing positive change.

Maria Caulfield, MP for the Lewes constituency which includes Bishopstone, said in support of Barbara Mine’s nomination: “Barbara has been instrumental in bringing the old station back to life and turning it into a valuable and inclusive space for the community. Through her tireless efforts and that of the whole Friends of Bishopstone, this once redundant station has become an important meeting place for the community as a whole.”

Former rail minister Norman Baker, who chairs the Sussex Downs Line community rail partnership, said: “There are many volunteers within Community Rail – but there is only one Barbara Mine. I am in no doubt that the restoration of Bishopstone station would not have happened when it did and in the way it did had Barbara not been chairing the Friends group.”

Tracy Jarvis, corporate social responsibility manager for Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “This is a fantastic achievement, and we thank Barbara Mine and the Friends of Bishopstone Station for their work in bringing this idea to fruition. Community is at the heart of everything we do, and our dedicated community rail partners help us connect with local people, boost tourism and make local economies thrive. Projects like Bishopstone show what can happen when partners work together for the benefit of the wider community.”