Voluntary group wins £13,769 grant to create a new mural on the northbound platform of the station
An Enfield railway station is set to become a lot more colourful after a group of volunteers was awarded nearly £14,000 to create a piece of platform art inspired by the local area.
Enfield Chase Station Volunteers (ECSV), part of The Enfield Society, was awarded a Department for Transport grant following an application to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which owns the Great Northern franchise operating trains along the Hertford Loop Line in the west of the borough.
The ‘Your Station, Your Community’ fund invited local groups and charities to submit ideas for projects that help connection their local railway station to the community it serves.
ECSV submitted a proposal for an artist-led project which will “create a unique and memorable welcome” to both the station and to the Enfield Town area, celebrating and promoting the history and heritage of Enfield and Enfield Chase Station.
GTR awarded them £13,769 to deliver the project and art group Hive Curates has now been commissioned to select a local artist to install a large community-developed mural on the northbound platform, which will be seen by everyone who arrives at the station after travelling in from London.
John Cole, a trustee at The Enfield Society who led the funding bid, said: “It will be inspired by Enfield as a market town and town centre. The idea is that people passing through on a train or alighting at Enfield Chase will have a taster of the street scene nearby.”
He added: “I am so pleased to see another community artwork coming together on the Hertford Loop – we seem to be starting a railway art trail from Palmers Green to Gordon Hill!”
In total, GTR awarded grants totalling £375,000 to 19 charities which are launching community projects in areas served by the train operator. The charities were chosen from over 370 organisations who answered GTR’s invitation to bid for support with funding of between £1,000 and £50,000 offered to each successful applicant.
GTR’s chief executive officer Angie Doll said: “I’m delighted to congratulate the nineteen successful organisations, many of whom are new partners for us. We’re excited to be working with them all to generate the social and environmental benefits their projects are designed to deliver.
“We’d also like to thank everyone who applied. The magnificent response and extremely high quality of the bids shows the incredible energy, creativity and commitment our local communities possess.
“It has been really hard to decide who the first winners were, as all the bids addressed important social needs. Unfortunately, we can only help fund a fraction of the projects, so many excellent bidders will no doubt be disappointed, and I encourage them to try again now for next year’s fund.
“I would also like to thank our existing partners such as the community rail partnerships and tourism bodies, who did a brilliant job spreading the word across our network.”
Local residents in Enfield will now be invited to participate in at least two creative workshops and/or questionnaires to help inform the artwork at Enfield Chase Station, while a “well known street artist” has been selected to add some additional artistic elements to the same platform.
The project is expected to be complete in around February or March next year.
Dave Cockle, chair of The Enfield Society and ECSV, said: “Although Enfield Chase Station is known for its award-winning gardening and planting it is already a place for art with three mosaics and a colourful coffee area on Platform 1.”
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or yearly
More Information about donations