Greater Anglia is funding 34 community projects as part of its new Customer and Community Improvement Fund initiative. 
 
Grants of up to £50,000 were available, with the train operator pledging a total of £350,000 this financial year, to projects across the Greater Anglia network as part of its ongoing support for communities.
 
Grants have been awarded to a wide range of projects that benefit both the community and the railway - from small-scale station enhancements to integrated transport projects, and schemes to introduce new or disadvantaged groups to rail travel. Funding has also been awarded to education projects, biodiversity projects, arts and heritage schemes, as well as ideas that help to promote rail services amongst local communities.
 
This scheme is aimed at supporting initiatives which deliver community benefits and enhance the railway’s positive role in society. Applications were received from local organisations and bodies, such as community rail partnerships, station adopters, local authorities, parish councils, community groups, charities, and other stakeholders along the routes served by the train operator.
 
Greater Anglia’s Managing Director, Martin Beable, said: “I am delighted that we are able to invest £350,000 into community projects across East Anglia, and we are looking forward to seeing the schemes and ideas put forward progress and flourish over the coming year.
 
“We are always looking to enhance the role of the railway in support of the community it serves, and this new scheme is a way of supporting further locally focused enhancements in line with community needs.”
 
Projects which have been awarded funding include:
 
Network-wide

•  £16,000 for Willow Brook Primary School Academy to run a series of free ‘Intelino SmartTrain’ workshops for children aged 10-14 directly aligned to learning outcomes from the National Curriculum for Computing, Mathematics and Physics. The workshops will be available to schools wishing to participate around the network.
• £5,000 for the Thomas Pocklington Trust to curate an art exhibition called ‘Do You See What I See’. The art will visually represent how sight loss impacts people differently, and in collaboration with a sighted artist, will reimagine an original piece of art into a collection based on descriptions from blind and partially sighted people highlighting the personal and diverse ways they perceive the world. 

Essex

•  £50,000 towards improvements at Alresford station house as part of ongoing renovation plans for the old station building
• £30,000 for the Landguard and Felixstowe Conservation Trust to install Harwich Haven Heritage Route wayfinding signage and information at key railway stations
• £20,000 for Colchester City Council to install a wayfinding scheme between the rail station and the hospital
• £20,000 for Colchester City Council to install new secure cycle parking facilities
• £7,522 for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership to install new branded signage at various stations 
• £6,380 for the Hockley adopter group to create a new accessible outdoor space and seating area at the station and install an information board
• £5,685 for Wivenhoe Library of Things towards restoration and leasing of the old station house so that they can carry out repairs to the building, purchase tools and equipment for their community 
• £5,000 to help transform a disused area of Battlesbridge station into an additional wildlife area
• £3,350 for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership to run four event trains aimed at providing a day out for disadvantaged and/or vulnerable groups who do not usually travel by train
• £3,000 for Wickford adopters to improve the look and feel of the wider station area 
• £2,935 for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership to install 14 new poster boards at stations in Essex in order to display artwork from the community
• £2,600 for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership to install a planter and artwork at Alresford station
• £625 for Funnelwick Limb to develop an art project about Katherine of Aragon which will see poems and short stories created by women from across Essex installed as posters at stations 
• £569 for the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail to install wildlife information boards at 15 rail stations