Avanti West Coast opens new round of funding to bring community projects to life

New round of funding from Avanti West Coast designed to create a difference in communities it serves.

• Customer and Communities Investment Scheme to support local projects
• Funding pot aims to create a difference in regions served by Avanti West Coast
• Customers and community groups encouraged to submit ideas for local initiatives

Regions across Avanti West Coast’s route are set to benefit from a new round of funding designed to improve stations and create a difference in local communities.

The inter-city operator’s Customer and Communities Investment Scheme (CCIS) is open for applications for projects which address regeneration challenges and tackle social needs across the regions served by Avanti West Coast. The money will be awarded to the successful bidders over a one-year period.

This latest investment by Avanti West Coast follows the delivery of community and charitable initiatives across its network last year, funded by the previous round of the CCIS.

Customers, stakeholders, and community groups are encouraged to submit proposals for initiatives which can bring positive change to communities local to the West Coast Main Line – running between London, Scotland and North Wales.

Submissions could range from schemes aimed at better integrated journeys to and from stations using sustainable transport modes, to a community project that supports good mental wellbeing or connecting young people with opportunities (education, jobs, skills).

Applications should consider the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. This plan helped shape Avanti West Coast’s thinking behind the CCIS, to create inclusive, prosperous and connected communities by addressing areas such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.

One beneficiary of the CCIS was international charity, Railway Children, who work with street children in India, East Africa and the UK. They secured funding in July 2021 to employ two full-time workers in the West Midlands who have been able to offer support to 182 referrals of young people identified by British Transport Police as being vulnerable on the rail network.*

Speaking of how the CCIS has enabled Railway Children to create a difference, the charity’s UK Programme Director, Jacqui Highfield, said: “The funding we have received from Avanti West Coast’s Customer and Communities Investment Scheme has enabled us to launch our fourth Safeguarding on Transport Programme, this time based in the West Midlands.

“After Covid-19 we could not have imagined being able to take this huge step forward due to the impact of the pandemic on us as a charity. When we found out we had been successful in receiving funding and were able to start reaching and protecting vulnerable people in the West Midlands it was a brilliant, exciting opportunity. Without the support from Avanti West Coast, we would not have been able to have done this. Thank you!”

Richard Scott, Partnerships and Strategy Director at West Coast Partnership, said: “Since launching our Customer and Communities Investment Scheme we’ve been able to work in partnership with more local groups and organisations to make positive changes in the regions we serve. We’re keen to build on this, so we’re delighted to open another round of funding for this scheme.

“At Avanti West Coast we connect people and places to opportunity and this fund will help benefit communities across our route, which is especially important as society faces challenging times.
“We hope the success of previous projects will inspire others to submit their ideas. We would love our customers, stakeholders and community groups to bid for a share of the funding, so we can support initiatives that matter to them and make a difference to our stations, as well as the regions we serve.”

Rail Minister, Wendy Morton, said: “Our railway offers more than just a service to travel on. It connects people and places, builds up local communities and provides opportunities for growth.

“As we continue striving towards creating a transport network which is safe and accessible for all, Avanti’s Customer and Communities Investment Scheme is just one of the brilliant ways our railway is going above and beyond the realms of travel, to tackle regeneration challenges and social needs across the UK.”