Action Stations is an exciting opportunity for community organisations, social enterprise groups and charities to occupy previously unused space in four railway stations across Greater Manchester. The initial four stations are Heaton Chapel, Broadbottom, Altrincham and Trafford Park, which currently are in varying levels of disrepair and disuse, and the hope is that the success of this pilot project will lead to further opportunities in the future. Thanks to the Greater Manchester Rail Stations Alliance, £650,000 worth of funding has been secured for their renovation.
The Alliance partners are Network Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester, Northern, TransPennine Express & LCR. Our role at GMCVO is to support the development of the plans of each of the VCSE’s and facilitate collaboration between both the GM Rail Stations Alliance & the VCSE groups and between the VCSE groups utilising the spaces themselves.
As at January 2022 the initial selection for the ‘lead’ organisation has been completed for each station and they are currently in the process of producing first drafts of their business plans as well as generating interest locally for other groups who would like to make shared use of the space. There is varied opportunity to join forces at each of the stations due to significant differences in site sizes, ranging from a room on an actual station platform (Altrincham), to a three story pub which adjacent to the station itself (Broadbottom).
A Project Manager has been appointed to begin the practical task of refurbishment across the sites and to set a timeline for each organisation to move in. The overall aim for this project is to create a self-sustaining hub of social enterprise at each location, which will generate enough income to expand their regeneration to new sites in the future. Most importantly, it will be a source of real impact within the local community all year round.
