I hope that you and your fellow group members are all well and keeping safe during these difficult times.

Activities have stopped as we all follow Government advice to keep safe and protect the NHS.

Looking after ourselves has got to be our main priority.

As we look to the future, we invite you to check out our website for the latest news of our Cheshire Stations.

We also welcome good news stories about your efforts even if they are reflecting on the past.

These should be sent to intouch@bestkeptstations.org.uk or simply reply to this email.

And remember a picture paints a thousand words!

We particularly bring your attention to:

–  Advice and guidance from Community Rail Network (formerly ACoRP) on keeping in touch and planning whilst we are in lock-down with Covid-19.

–  Our Cheshire Best Kept Stations Annual Report

It will come as no surprise to you that we are postponing our Annual General Meeting until post Covid-19 but you can read our Annual Report now.

–  The MyCheshire Children’s Arts Awards.

This is a Mid Cheshire CRP initiative aimed at Cheshire primary school children who can join a competition to paint their own railway station poster.

The winners will see their paintings adorn 15 poster cases on Mid Cheshire Line.

Take a look at some of the entries so far.

And … by special arrangement the competition is extended to “old Cheshire” so includes all Cheshire Best Kept Station entrants!

It has been a joy to recognise and celebrate the hard work, enthusiasm, creativity and community spirit in Cheshire last year.

This year is going to be a different year for Cheshire Best Kept Stations but our Best Kept Stations team are here to:

• rekindle all the energy we can for Cheshire’s station projects
• give help and to promote our station achievements both past and present
• help keep in touch with Cheshire’s station projects even whilst we are in lock-down

Finally please remember that Cheshire is the only county to have its own Best Kept Station Competition.

Yes, in Cheshire we are simply the Best !!

Mark Barker
Chair
Cheshire Best Kept Stations

Do send us your news and photos to intouch@bestkeptstations.org.uk so we can keep other groups in touch of your station projects.

The Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) continue to plan for the installation of lifts to enable Access For All.

In preparation for this, they are working with many groups especially, related to the planned improvements, those who cater for the disabled, the disadvantaged, the underprivileged, and the terminally ill.

Adding to the recent exhibition on behalf of the homeless (still visible in the ticket office and in “Art In A Box”), FoHS have now teamed up with the Donna Louise Hospice for Children & Young People.

The station’s latest “Platform for Art” display is an outdoor exhibition of paintings, created by families who rely on the care services offered by the Hospice, which can now be seen on the station concourse and on the Manchester-bound platform.

The Donna Louise Hospice provides a lifeline to hundreds of families across Staffordshire and Cheshire who are facing every parent’s worst nightmare: the heart-breaking knowledge that they will almost certainly outlive their child.

The Hospice explains:
“The Donna Louise Hospice is far brighter than you may think. It is belly laughs and best friends, it is light in the darkest hour, it is glitter and sparkle, Xbox and drums – it is real understanding. Whatever our children, young people or families need, the Donna Louise Hospice is there.

“We were delighted that the Friends of Handforth Station could display our paintings and spread our message, and we hope they provide a colourful contribution to this lovingly cared-for station.”

Mike Bishop, the President of FoHS, added that:
“We appreciate that in the present ‘lockdown’ conditions, far fewer people than usual will have the chance to see this wonderful exhibition. However, we plan to leave the paintings on display for many more weeks so that, as travel restrictions ease, they will give pleasure to our regular and irregular station users alike.”

Prints of the paintings on exhibit are also available for purchase, with all proceeeds going to the Donna Louise Hospice.

You can contact them at https://www.thedonnalouise.org/ .

The Community Rail Network gives advice on how community rail can stay active, productive and positive and continuing to make a difference to our communities, while looking to the future.

They have eight suggestions: some on supporting your communities now, and others about strengthening your position to help community rail redouble its efforts in the future.

Click here to read Community Rail News dated 1 April 2020

Handforth Railway Station is currently exhibiting a unique and rare collection of personally handwritten poetry from the homeless community living on the streets of Manchester.

Outreach worker Ged Austin (known as The Urban Poet) encouraged the rough sleepers to tell their own stories in poetry – he worked alongside them running small workshops in the doorways and colder places. These rare stories archive who the homeless are, how they got there, and how they feel about life.

Ged (shown above presenting the poems and pictures at the station)  has won their trust of these homeless people during the years, and has personally supported them with clothing, much needed provisions, and advice about support services they can access.

On display at Handforth Train Station is a selection of the nearly 100 poems he has collected, over the past 5 years, from the streets of Piccadilly and beyond Manchester’s town center.

Also on display are photographs of the life and hard times that these people endure on the streets of Manchester. The exhibition reveals the real poverty that can overwhelm people who slip through this country’s social net.

Ged said, “The aim of these poems and photos is to show the real human beings behind the arbitrarily-assigned labels of beggar, addict, prostitute. We want to break down stereotyping, showing, for example, how the homeless support each other on the lonely streets. Everyone needs to be aware this could happen to anyone if fate is unkind.

“Sadly, many people are still dying on the streets of Manchester and surrounding areas, but we must always work to help people out of poverty and back into society.”

Hugh Everett, from the Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS) who commissioned this arts project, said  “Our projects at the station normally cover railway-based artwork. In this case, we are keen to promote the community aspects of our work, and do what we can to support the less-privileged members of our society.”

Click here to visit The Friends of Handforth Station