Bringing a splash of colour to the town railway station
Father and daughter team up to plant spring flowers
A FATHER and daughter team has given Hinckley railway station a dash of colour to improve the look of its platforms.
Mike and Claire George have started planting Spring flowers on Platform 1 as they launch the Friends of Hinckley Station group.
The green-fingered pair cleared away rubbish and rubble before installing a patch of forget-me-nots, pansies and polyanthashas, along with some birdfeeders.
They had to clear a lot of rubbish and rubble first but soon made a start on getting some plants in.
Commuters made positive comments as they saw the fresh splash of colour.
The community group is also part of the East Midlands Trains station adoption scheme, which encourages communities to take care of and take pride in their railway station.
Mike said: “We are very keen to help make the station an asset to the area.
“It is not just an important gateway to the town, it is on a busy pedestrian route between the communities of Hinckley and Burbage and we can help make it a pleasure to use.
“We are planting colourful spring flowers and we will add more plants in the beds and planters for the summer.
“We also have other ideas including bird feeders, a community mural, a book swap box and children’s play box in the waiting room.”
Donna Adams, stakeholder and community rail manager at East Midlands Trains, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mike and Claire to our growing band of station adopters and we look forward to working with them to improve Hinckley station.
“We have over 270 adopters at stations right across our network, all helping to improve the stations as well as fostering stronger links to the communities they serve.”
Friend of Hinckley Station is looking for more volunteers to help care for the station and would like to hear from any groups, schools or clubs who would like to create a display.
Future plans for the station include creating a vegetable patch.
The group can be contacted via its website or on 07455 123883.
You can also follows its progress on Twitter at @HinckleyStation.