WORLD CUP- THREE LIONS ON A TRAIN!

ARMED FORCES DAYTo support the 100’s of forces personnel and veterans travelling in to Liverpool for the Armed Forces Day parade on Saturday, 30 June, we granted free to enable travel in and out of the city centre.

The parade began at 1100 and made its way through the city to the Albert Dock, where the event continued until late into the afternoon with a variety of activities and exhibitions. By presenting their Armed Forces ID, Veterans Badge with a photo ID or dressing in their full uniform, forces personnel were eligible to travel on the Merseyrail network for free. It was a pleasure to be able to show our support and appreciation for the armed forces by offering free travel to attend the parade and events throughout the day.

COMMUNITY

REPORT

A fun morning was had by all on the 11th July whilst travelling with some special guests on our network. ‘3 Lions on a Train’ were showing their support for England in the World Cup on train and on station. They were giving away flags, clappers and other world cup memorabilia to passengers; not only to build the excitement ahead of the semi-final with Croatia but also to further promote our Mtogo World Cup competition.

The competition involved a 7ft version of the world cup trophy made of Ferrero Rocher chocolates is on display in Liverpool Central MtoGo store, with passengers being asked to guess how many chocolates the trophy is made of. Following the conclusion of the World Cup we were able to announce the lucky winners.

Two ladies were just two chocolates away from guessing the total number of Ferrero Rocher which made up our tasty World Cup trophy. There were a whopping 1378 gold chocolates packed into the 7ft replica, which was on display throughout the four-week tournament. We had more than 950 entries for the competition. They were both presented with a £250 Liverpool One voucher by Tracey Upton, Area Station Manager as a reward for their magnificent maths skills.

Tracey Upton, Area Station Manager presenting the two winners with a £250 Liverpool One vouchers

Community rail awards 2018Many congratulations to the Formby and St. Michael’s Station Adoption Volunteers for being shortlisted for this year’s community rail awards.

The ACoRP’s Community Rail Awards recognise and reward the hard work and dedication of everybody involved in community rail. We will be hosting a table at the awards where volunteers from both projects will be in attendance.

SCHOOL CHILDREN GIVE LOCAL STATION A MAKE-OVERPrimary school children from Sefton have taken part in a special community art project to help brighten up their local train station. The creative youngsters, from Melling Primary School, produced a vision for a mosaic which was unveiled at Kirkby station last week (Tuesday 17th July), in front of station staff and commuters. The design of the mosaic was inspired by the pupils’ experiences of living in Melling and features farmland, wellingtons and flowers, as well as a dolphin representing the school’s emblem. It also includes the line ‘be the best you can be’, the school’s motto and something which the children wanted to be an integral part of the final work.

From start to finish the design and production of the mosaic became a family affair. The parents and grandparents of the children helped put the design into the finished product after taking part in a mosaic making course with Sefton Community Learning Service. Speaking about

the project, Head Teacher Ms Ainsworth-Brown said “The school works very closely with the community and is always looking at ways to build relationships whilst teaching the children to respect their surroundings. The idea to create the mosaic came about some time ago however the cost of producing it was substantial, especially if we commissioned a professional artist to do it. We had to think of another way to deliver the ambition of the children which is why parents and grandparents set about educating themselves via Sefton Community Learning Service. They enrolled in a thirteen-week course which not only facilitated in the making of the mosaic but also educated them in relation to maths, measuring, problem solving and the sourcing of materials. It was fantastic teamwork and something which everyone will be able to enjoy when they visit the station.”

The mosaic is a beautiful piece of artwork and an excellent example of community spirit. It has added a real splash of colour to the station as well as create a more

attractive and cared-for station environment at Kirkby. As well as art, this project was also about education which is a key part of our Community Involvement Strategy at Merseyrail. Throughout the process, the children were taught about important issues related to rail safety as well as the history of the railway in their area which is rural in its make-up. It was a real success and we urge any other community groups or schools who are keen to get involved in projects with their local stations to get in touch, as we are keen to support as many schemes as possible across the Merseyrail network.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Labour Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “What a fantastic way to encourage people to think about where they come from and incite pride of place. This project has captured the true essence of community learning and has provided a brilliant opportunity to not only learn new skills, but put them into practice to make a true difference to a local community.

Old Roan memorial garden artwork

School children bury time capsule at new Maghull North station Schoolchildren helping to preserve time for future generations of commuters have buried a time capsule in the foundations of the new £13 million state-of-the-art Maghull North Station, which will be re-opened in 2068. The container, which was created by pupils at St Thomas’ Church of England Primary School, is packed with school memorabilia, and also LFC/EFC match programmes, an unused mobile phone, popular books and a film created by all the pupils at the school.

Davenhill Primary school is integral in keeping the environment vibrant and welcoming at Old Roan station and has been for some years.

The recent production of art work was based around the famous painter of The Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso. The children looked at the different emotions within the picture and how various patterns and colour can create a range of moods. They experimented with colours and shapes resulting in them creating their own picture in the style of Picasso.

The children were from Year 6 ages 10-11 who will be future customers of public transport when going onto Secondary School.

We are delighted with the new artwork and will be working with them in the next school year on other projects.

It was presented to the station’s staff and Merseyrail’s HR director Jane English, at a special ceremony held on Wednesday 11th July. Pupils from the school all got the honour of planting the historical milestone which will remain buried in the station’s grounds for the next fifty years.

A plaque was also be placed in the ground above the time capsule which reads:

St Thomas CE Primary

School Time Capsule, Sealed at Maghull North station on 11th July 2018. To be opened 11th July 2068.

The time capsule is one of several community projects that have been created to mark the arrival of the new station which was officially opened to the public last month. Other projects included a community artwork piece, to brighten up the new station’s site, which was designed

by local groups and schools in the town. Speaking about the time capsule, head teacher, Mr Ward, said: “The new station is such exciting news for Maghull and our pupils were thrilled to help mark this occasion by creating a piece of local history which will give future generations a snapshot of what life was like in 2018. They are really excited to have their work, poems and stories captured in time and be part of this lasting legacy.”

The new Maghull North station is located just off School Lane next to the former Ashworth Hospital site, between the existing Maghull and Town Green stations on the Ormskirk branch of Merseyrail’s Northern Line. The station forms a key piece of infrastructure in the Sefton Local Plan, supporting local public transport demand from a nearby new housing development that will include 370 homes, with more homes planned for the area in the near future.

Pupils from St Thomas CE Primary School and the time capsule

NEWLY REFURBISHED AINSDALE STATION OPENSOn Friday, 20th July an official cermeony was held to celebate the newly refurbished Ainsdale station.

The station is now the most environmentally friendly on the network after extensive renovations. The previous booking office was demolished to make way for a new building, complete with solar panels, low energy LED lighting with smart

controls and rainwater harvesting tanks to serve the toilet facilities. The design achieved a CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme) rating of ‘Excellent’ in recognition of its green credentials. The station is now open to the public and includes a re-developed car park. Passengers can enjoy a modern and bright booking office, improved waiting

facilities and customer information screens with the state-of-the-art equipment.

Local schools were invited to produce special artwork celebrating their community for the event. We received 100’s of fantastic pieces of art from the three primary schools in Ainsdale. Several of the pieces of work were included in very ey-catching banners installed on the station

“CHANGING STATIONS”Community Rail Lancashire, Merseyrail and Merseytravel were proud to support the performance of ‘Changing Stations’ at Liverpool Central station on Wednesday 11th July 2018.

The young dancers from Kirkby High School have been hard at work developing a spectacular dance for months, and dazzled us with their creative and polished performance. The dance represents the journey of life through the stages of growth, as related to a journey taken by rail. We are extremely pleased to have collaborated on this project, and are sure we will see many of these young people performing in the years to come!

You can view the performance on the YouTube video link: youtu.be/Z5cMbjXkEx4

Educational hubs and travel awareness visitsAs we have come to the end of the school year below is a summary of the reach our rail safety, educational hub and travel awareness visits have achieved.

Total Number of Schools involved = 67

Total Number of students engaged = 6350

Total Number of Special Schools involved = 6

Total Number of Students with special needs = 170

Total Number of Community Groups (inc: Scouts) = 3 (which included 180 young people)

platforms. We are also working with the adoption group at the station to design and produce a special planter which will pick out the name of the station. This is an attempt to recreate a similar decoration that was on the station many years ago. The lcoal civic society are also working on a design for heriatge storyboards that will tell a story of the station and the surrounding area.

Safety awareness showOn Thursday and Friday, 5th & 6th July 2018 over 300 children attended a special Safety Awareness Show at the Emergency Services Centre in Birkenhead, Wirral.

This included pupils from Park Infants, St Georges Infants of Wallasey and Portland Infants Birkenhead. The event not only covered Railway Safety but also First Aid, Internet Safety, R.N.L.I, Merseyside Police and Road Safety Awareness. Merseyrail were represented at the show by our School Liaison Training Officer Tony Mullally. He was there to support some of the British Transport Police P.S.O’s and Network Rail.