Help shape stronger, more connected communities through volunteering with North Cheshire Community Rail Partnership.
We are a grassroots, community-based organisation and rely strongly on the support of volunteers. Whether you have just an hour to spare or want to get involved regularly, your time can help us deliver projects that benefit local people and places.
Volunteering brings more than social value. It’s also widely recognised for improving mental and physical wellbeing. From developing new skills to discovering new friendships, it can even enhance your future career opportunities.
We are proud to support Cheshire West Voluntary Action’s Vision for Volunteering and uphold the following five principles:
Opportunities are open to everyone, regardless of age or ability. This ensures that benefits are felt by individuals and communities alike.
Volunteers are changemakers. We support people to step forward and pursue projects that match their strengths and interests.
Partnerships across the community, public and private sectors make volunteering more effective and far-reaching.
Flexible, innovative and responsive – our volunteer opportunities evolve as people bring their own skills and ideas.
Every effort matters. Volunteers are recognised, celebrated and treated with dignity and respect.
For more details, please click here to download our Volunteering Strategy & Plan.
As we develop new projects, so we rely more and more on new volunteers of all ages from all parts of our diverse communities. If you have a passion to get involved, we will find an opportunity that is just right for you!
Currently we are looking to recruit volunteers as shown below. If you are interested in finding out more about any of these please contact us for an initial informal discussion.
We are brimming with ideas to develop and deliver projects that really make a positive difference to our communities. We are also convinced that our vision can be shared with many other community based organisations to bring mutual benefit.
Here are just a few of our ideas, and we would love to hear from you if you are an organisation or individual who feels that by collaborating with us, whether it be through shared funding, resources or just sheer drive we can turn these into reality:
Co-ordination of active travel (walking and cycling) from our stations, development of visitor experiences and promoting the value and ease of rail travel in to the area. Guided and self-guided walks from stations as part of wider local, regional and national initiatives.
Building on the success that Community Rail Partnerships have achieved elsewhere we would like to develop a project that explores each borough’s communities’ interpretation of their railways and the links to their current social and economic activities – resulting in a set of “Pantone” references which are then visually used within the station environments
Programmes to showcase local art (of all kinds) whether static or live performances, at stations, on railway infrastructure (like bridges) or on trains themselves
Organised facility visits by train for local schools, colleges and youth organisations to experience what today’s and tomorrow’s railway needs for its design, operations and engineering and open up consideration for career opportunities
Such as rooms within former or current station buildings, or innovative uses for other railway land – such as outdoor exercise facilities
We know that there are many in our communities who would, if they had the self-confidence, benefit through reduced isolation and increased social activity by using trains to make journeys. We want to build on the successes achieved elsewhere in the country in partnering with other community organisations in the health and wellbeing sector to offer opportunities to build that confidence and introduce people of all ages and abilities to the magic of travelling
The 1960’s was an incredibly important decade for the railways and our communities. There was a radical change in how the railways were viewed, used and managed just as life for everyone went through rapid technological and cultural developments as well. There is a living generation of people in our community who will, just, remember the experiences of station masters, porters and coal fires at stations, of the noisy and smoky goods yards with steam engines shunting wagons, giving way during that decade to a very changed society – cuts to the railway network, the rise of pop culture and the aspiration to own a car. We think there is a story to be told, curated and preserved for future generations.
These prestigious awards, made annually, recognise the remarkable contributions that communities working with the railway have achieved. In years gone by our stations were also winners – we want to restore that pride and show the rest of Cheshire that we are “back on top of our game”.
Although we have a passion, and some ideas, we really want to listen to yours too. There’s no idea that’s off-limits for an exploratory chat, as long as it supports our Vision of Everyone being Proud of our Railways.
We’re fortunate to have core funding in place and access to additional grants for collaborative work. In today’s climate, with the community sector facing increasing pressure to do more for less, let’s talk and explore what we can achieve together—especially if it creates real, measurable social value.
If you have an idea, whether it’s just a sketch or a more developed plan in need of a partner, our Community Rail Development Officer would love to hear from you. Simply fill out the contact form on this page to arrange a conversation.
We’re a not-for-profit partnership working with local organisations to make rail travel more accessible, sustainable, and community-focused across North Cheshire.
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