Our aims are:

• To promote, publicise and encourage community involvement to improve railway stations by holding an annual competition, and by other means, to find the Best Kept Station in Cheshire and other examples of good practice
• To hold an annual event to support this aim by recognising and publicising such activities by giving Awards and to promote these stations and the railway industry in Cheshire.
• To encourage community involvement and recognition of the significance of their railway stations, particularly by young persons, through conservation, environmental projects and associated education, artworks, at the stations and their environs.
• To work in partnership with the railway industry, Local Authorities, Parish  and Town Councils and other relevant stakeholders to achieve these aims.

The focal point of our work is the Annual Awards Evening, held in January to honour the work of community and adoption groups during the previous year. Stations are assessed in two ways:

We have a team of over 20 judges who visit the smaller stations as ‘mystery shoppers’ during June, July and August each year.  They come from a variety of backgrounds that include not only former railway staff but also local community groups who can provide a ‘non-railway’ perspective thus putting themselves very much in the shoes of perspective train passengers when they visit a station.  For the larger stations we call upon members of TravelWatch Northwest who are able to provide expertise on what principal railway stations should be providing for their users.

Not all the work that takes place at a station can be seen by a visit, so for a number of Awards, we invite community and adoption groups to nominate themselves for several categories, providing up to 800 words and up to 8 images of their activity.

Click here for further details of Cheshire Best Kept Stations 2024 Awards