Raised beds and barrel trains installed at Charing Cross Station

In June, we were invited along to celebrate Charing Cross stations official adopted status!

As part of ScotRail’s Adopt-a-Station initiative, COWI commissioned Glasgow Wood to build some brightly coloured raised beds and barrel trains. With the help of Alzheimer Scotland and St. Patrick’s Primary School (COWI’s nominated charity and school partners for the Glasgow office), they’ve brought colour and character to the station platform and stairwells.

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

COWI’s Glasgow office has a team of six who’ve been co-ordinating the Adopt-a-Station initiative. They asked their school partner, St Patrick’s Primary School, to design posters to promote positivity and wellbeing for the station stairwells.

When it came to involving Alzheimer Scotland, the COWI team thought I’d be a great idea to have some planters built to help promote their invaluable services. It was ScotRail for recommended planting equipment suppliers Glasgow Wood.

Julie McCormack, Social Value Manager, said:

“We met with Glasgow Wood and were really impressed with their inclusive approach supporting local people to provide them with skills and experience, recycling of timber and also being a social enterprise.”

INSTALLATION

Once they’d been built and delivered by Glasgow Wood, it was over to COWI’s Adopt-a-Station team to install them.

When recalling particularly memorable moments from the project, Julie said,

“moving two tonnes of soil from the station entrance down two sets of stairs definitely stands out for me… a massive team effort. But seeing the young peoples faces light up when they saw their posters on display made it completely worthwhile.”

CELEBRATION

At the install event in June, pupils and representatives from Alzheimer Scotland and Glasgow Wood were invited to COWI’s St Vincent Street office for a celebratory lunch.

GW Managing Director, Danielle, said:

“It was lovely to meet with everyone involved in the project, including the pupils.

To see the original paintings which feature on the stairwells was a highlight. We also chatted to Sandra (ScotRail’s Community Rail Executive and manager of the Adopt-a-Station initiative) about the project and what night be next.

These raised beds and barrel trains are a simple but really effective way of brightening up any station platform. We’d really love to see more of them about.”

Telling us about Alzheimer Scotland’s involvement, Fundraising & Engagement Coordinator, Georgia Jackson said:

“Thousands of passengers pass through this station each month. With over 90,000 people living with dementia in Scotland today, it’s likely that many of those passengers will be affected by the condition and could be looking for help. So, when our partner COWI invited us to be involved in this fantastic opportunity, we couldn’t turn it down.”

Georgia went on to tell us more about their involvement:

“Having assessed the station platform, we decided that planters featuring meaningful quotes from members of the Scottish Dementia Working Group (SDWG), with a clear call to action to our 24Hour Freephone Dementia Helpline would have the greatest impact.

Now that we’ve seen everything installed, we’re so pleased with how everything’s turned out. The beautiful planters add a great pop of colour to the platform which has made such a difference.”

GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY AND PLANET

Alistair Kean, sustainability director at COWI, said:

“COWI has a long history of working within the rail sector where we seek to help our contractors and clients reach their sustainability goals. The Adopt-a-Station programme is hugely important to us and also great for morale.

As with all of our projects across the UK, we are committed to investing in local communities and embracing opportunities that create more sustainable places for everyone to work and live in.”

David Ross, ScotRail Communications Director, said:

“We’re thrilled to welcome COWI to our Adopt a Station programme. Their commitment to Charing Cross station will have a real impact on the experience of our customers and the local community.

The station adoption initiative is all about bringing people together to create a more inviting and pleasant station environment. We’re excited to see the improvements that COWI will bring.”

Raised beds and barrel trains installed to bring life to newly adopted Charing Cross station in Glasgow

In June, we were invited along to celebrate Charing Cross stations official adopted status!

COWI’s Glasgow office has a team of six who’ve been co-ordinating the Adopt-a-Station initiative. They asked their school partner, St Patrick’s Primary School, to design posters to promote positivity and wellbeing for the station stairwells.

“We met with Glasgow Wood and were really impressed with their inclusive approach supporting local people to provide them with skills and experience, recycling of timber and also being a social enterprise.”

Once they’d been built and delivered by Glasgow Wood, it was over to COWI’s Adopt-a-Station team to install them.

“moving two tonnes of soil from the station entrance down two sets of stairs definitely stands out for me… a massive team effort. But seeing the young peoples faces light up when they saw their posters on display made it completely worthwhile.”

“It was lovely to meet with everyone involved in the project, including the pupils.

To see the original paintings which feature on the stairwells was a highlight. We also chatted to Sandra (ScotRail’s Community Rail Executive and manager of the Adopt-a-Station initiative) about the project and what night be next.

These raised beds and barrel trains are a simple but really effective way of brightening up any station platform. We’d really love to see more of them about.”

“Having assessed the station platform, we decided that planters featuring meaningful quotes from members of the Scottish Dementia Working Group (SDWG), with a clear call to action to our 24Hour Freephone Dementia Helpline would have the greatest impact.

“COWI has a long history of working within the rail sector where we seek to help our contractors and clients reach their sustainability goals. The Adopt-a-Station programme is hugely important to us and also great for morale.

As with all of our projects across the UK, we are committed to investing in local communities and embracing opportunities that create more sustainable places for everyone to work and live in.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome COWI to our Adopt a Station programme. Their commitment to Charing Cross station will have a real impact on the experience of our customers and the local community.

The station adoption initiative is all about bringing people together to create a more inviting and pleasant station environment. We’re excited to see the improvements that COWI will bring.”

So if you find yourself at this station, be sure to snap a photo and share with us!

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