We have been actively supporting the people, places and communities we serve, including a new round of customer and community funding, a unique tribute for Remembrance Day, and continuing to provide more opportunities through our Feel Good Field Trips.   

Apply for our Customer and Community Improvement Fund

We have now launched the fifth year of our Customer and Community Improvement Fund (CCIF) to support projects that bring benefits to stations and the communities surrounding them. The fund aims to make a positive impact across our route through new initiatives aimed at stations as well as addressing regeneration challenges and social needs in surrounding communities. Since its introduction in 2019, multiple projects have been supported by the fund including open-air creative workshops, improved accessible travel in countryside locations and education for young people around the risks involved with anti-social behaviour on the railway. Interested charities, organisations and community groups can submit applications for the funding to improve an area local to them, to help create a more inclusive and connected community. Submissions for projects must be in an area within 10 miles of a station along the West Coast Main Line, which runs between London, Scotland and North Wales. The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 10 January 2025. For more information about CCIF and guidance on how to apply for a share of the fund, click here.

Building a poppy wreath for remembrance

Last week we joined the Royal British Legion (RBL) and Poppyscotland to create and transport a poppy wreath to London Euston in partnership with the East Cheshire Poppy Appeal. The railway has a long connection with the Armed Forces and we’re pleased to have recognised this by joining the RBL and Network Rail for this special initiative that has brought people local to the West Coast Main Line together. Veterans as well as volunteers built a wreath from poppies while it made its journey from Glasgow to London by train. The plain wreath began its journey at Glasgow Central where our colleagues decorated it with its first tribute before it departed at 8:00am – with a bagpiper sending off the Pendolino service from the platform. Veterans who work for Avanti joined RBL supporters at 15 railway stations along the route to greet the train and present posies of poppies. At London Euston a welcome party greeted the train before the wreath - representing tributes from colleagues and RBL supporters along the West Coast Main Line - was carried to the station’s memorial as part of a procession.

Feel Good Field Trips

Another key part of our community work is our Feel Good Field Trips, which are on course to give 5,000 school pupils the chance to travel by train for fun and educational days out that may have previously been inaccessible for them. Over 100 excursions having already taken place, ahead of our parliamentary reception to celebrate the programme early next year. Recent trips include taking Year 12 pupils from St John Henry Newman College in Carlisle by train to Glasgow Central for a fun and educational day out at The King’s Theatre centred around the new stage production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The A-Level students were given a tour of The King’s by venue staff, followed by sessions with the cast and production team members. After the behind-the-scenes insight, the students watched a matinee performance of the show.