SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) has teamed up with South & South East in Bloom to celebrate the railway’s many green-fingered volunteers and biodiverse stations.
SWR – which operates across Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Somerset, Surrey and Wiltshire – is sponsoring the 2025 edition of South & South East in Bloom and has introduced a special category, Celebration Stations.
South & South East in Bloom is one of 16 regions across the UK that make up the annual, nationwide gardening competition ‘Britain in Bloom’. The competition inspires community groups in towns, cities and villages to make positive changes to their local environment through horticultural, environmental and community action.
The new category will be open to railway stations across the south and south east of England, many of which have been adopted by community groups and volunteers who lovingly tend to their stations’ gardens and green spaces.
Station adoption is part of the growing community rail movement, which sees local groups volunteer to take more active roles in their stations, helping them to better reflect and serve their communities. More than 100 SWR stations have been proudly adopted by nearly 500 local volunteers. Their projects range from vibrant murals and artwork installations to beautifully maintained planters and flowerbeds, bringing new life to these spaces.
At Raynes Park in South West London, the Friends of Raynes Park Station group have used a grant from SWR’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund to transform the station’s wildlife. Volunteers have landscaped a nearby embankment, installed a wildflower garden, and just last week planted 350 new bulbs.
To encourage entries into the special category, SWR will sponsor nominations from volunteers like these across its network as part of its Railway 200 celebrations – a year of activities to mark the beginning of the modern railway in 1825.
SWR is also encouraging those who work on gardens and green spaces at stations on the Southern and Southeastern networks to send in their nominations. The deadline for submitting entries to South & South East in Bloom is March 31 and judging will take place between June and August 2025.
Peter Holman, Chair of South & South East in Bloom, and London in Bloom, said:
“South & South East in Bloom is thrilled to collaborate with South Western Railway to develop the Stations in Bloom initiative. This partnership opens up fantastic new opportunities for participating station adopters to engage with the regional and wider Britain in Bloom community.
“Together, we can shine a spotlight on the extraordinary dedication and creativity of the volunteers who are transforming our stations along the SWR routes into stunning green spaces. Let’s celebrate these incredible efforts and inspire even more communities to get involved.”
Paula Aldridge, South Western Railway’s community rail manager, said:
“South & South East in Bloom is an opportunity to celebrate those who make a positive difference to their communities. We have hundreds of volunteers and station adopters who make a real difference and take real care of the green spaces around our stations.
“It’s wonderful to have a category just for the region’s stations, especially as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. I love seeing our stations transformed into vibrant, welcoming spaces and we’re really looking forward to seeing nominations across the SWR network and beyond.”
Encouraging station adopters to introduce gardens and green spaces is just one of the many ways SWR is improving biodiversity.
Since 2023, SWR has invested more than £250,000 on a wide range of measures, including the use of ecologists to carry out detailed surveys at 33 locations. Their findings will shape biodiversity action plans, which are designed to manage and increase biodiversity for local species of plants, animals and insects for the next 30 years.
SWR has also introduced biodiversity gardens at its depots in Bournemouth, Clapham Junction, Farnham, Feltham, Fratton, Northam (Southampton), Ryde (Isle of Wight), Salisbury, Strawberry Hill and Wimbledon.
These dedicated spaces include ponds and vegetable patches that help to make areas more biodiverse while improving the environment for the colleagues that work there, demonstrating the clear link between biodiversity and wellbeing.
Lottie Leigh-Browne, South Western Railway’s sustainability lead, said:
“As the first UK train operator to join the Nature Positive Business Pledge, a commitment to halt and reverse impacts on nature, we really want to encourage our station adopters to share the great work they’re doing.
“We’re working on many different ways to increase biodiversity across our network, which is providing a benefit for local wildlife and our customers and colleagues.
“Natural habitats like station gardens and green spaces at our depot provide huge environmental value, with studies estimating that habitats around rail infrastructure could absorb more than 400,000 tonnes of CO2e over 30 years.”
For more information on how to enter South & South East in Bloom, visit their website here. For more information on SWR’s sustainability strategy, including its biodiversity plans, visit our Sustainability page here.
For more information about Railway 200, visit their website here.
