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Bobby's big nose blog!
Prior to working for the Isle of Wight Community Rail Partnership I had no experience of transport at all. Nil. Nada, not a jot, but I had got plenty of experience working in the community as a development officer.
Therefore it wasn’t too difficult with my skills to step into the role of Rail Development Officer for a community rail partnership as the work was predominantly working with schools and the community to increase passenger growth to encourage sustainable transport.
I have learnt a great deal about the transport industry in the 4 years I have been working for the IW CRP and in my additional role as CRO in this last year for Lymington-Brockenhurst.
When I first came into the role, a bogey was something my children giggled about; I now know it’s the structure that contains the wheels and axles. I also know how passionate people can be about transport and how important it is that transport providers work together for seamless transport, encouraging more people to use a network to access work, school or play, thus reducing our carbon footprint.
However this isn’t a perfect world and transport providers, certainly in this financial climate have to keep a firm eye on their profit margins whilst developing their business growth. That’s where the CRP comes in, to support their stakeholders but to encourage lateral thinking, with a partnership approach to raise our profiles and promote community goodwill.
I am fortunate to have two excellent partnerships that work well together for collective outcomes that benefit all. With the success of the projects on the Island it has been relatively easy for me to replicate the projects on the mainland, though funding is always an issue that dogs projects and their success depends on programmes such as the BIG Lottery fund, the Arts Council and so on.
However over the last few years I have become well known for being creative in finding funding to support initiatives and have found increasing ways to lever match funding in for projects that particularly support learning and skills.
I have found also to date the support from New Forest District Council (NFDC), Hampshire County Council (HCC) and the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) invaluable, financially but also for introductions to the mainland agencies, services and organisations needed to deliver projects.
This ‘blog’ will be updated when I can and I hope it will give you a clearer insight to my role as Community Rail Officer.
May 22nd 2009
Projects are going from strength to strength both on the Island and the mainland. The support for TravelSafe grows and I have now raised 12k for the project to start. I will be meeting the 15 young people from Priestlands on June 1st who are keen to be involved with the project to go over the specification and I am hoping that the contact with Brockenhurst and request for partnership working will be followed up after half term.
The money raised will now enable us to run a TravelSafe week with Stop Watch Theatre, who will be promoting safe responsible travel through theatre and workshops to young people at the school and neighbouring schools.
The poster and credit card pull out will have the same info as the Island poster just different local relevant images reflecting their transport needs and I hope it will be unveiled at the beginning of the TravelSafe week in October.
Life has been truly truly mad in the last couple of months and today I am catching up on admin for the partnership which gets out of hand more and more each year!
Yesterday was a lovely day, which started early with the breakfast meeting in the Toll House on Southampton Road speaking at the breakfast meeting the Chamber of Commerce holds each month.Great breakfast and new contacts and they had tomato sauce, a must with any fry up!
I then went to Brock station to deliver the 10 mature hanging baskets the Medina Centre on the Island had grown for SWT. The baskets didn’t just shed every petal in my car but a large family of spiders of varying sizes and snails. These families of both arachnids and molluscan or Gastropoda have made themselves at home in the MPV and have been busy weaving intricate webs of fantastic design both spun and slimed on the windows! Therefore I was delighted to drop off my load, much to both Ian and Karl’s amusement at the station (they won’t laugh when they get the valet bill!)
Yeah 'funny' Ian and Karl!
For the plants next year I am hoping to use a local day care centre for adults with moderate to severe special needs who grow plants, which as is for the Island, a wonderful way of bringing in extra revenue to support the centre.
It was then off to Brockenhurst C of E Primary school where both Chris Gregory from the NFNPA and I were to give prizes out to the youngsters who one and certificates to the runners up.When I say prizes I mean the book marks to the runners up and bus passes for 5 groups for the open top tour bus around the New Forest, as the actual art prizes were on the Isle of Wight. Yep, great, I know. We arrived at the school, dodging donkey pooh whilst admiring great big hairy beasts with horns (so different from Sandown?) to get the certificates ready with the correct names, rather than ‘Any Murray’ who wasn’t known to be at the school and upon investigation was actually the person in the picture playing tennis.
I then had to confess to the school that the art prizes for the 5 winners were still on the Isle of Wight due to a late and particularly nasty attack of frenzied and manic activity I suffered from late Wednesday afternoon, the result of which saw me rendered speechless (a very unusual condition) on finding the art shop closed with a cheerful sign saying they would be reopening at 10 a.m. the next day. Given the shop is in Cowes and the prize giving was to be at the same time in Brockenhurst, it did not bode well for a truly successful prize giving.
Still it was fine, the children were just beautiful and again I was just so impressed by the school and the clearly high standard of work the children produce.
Next it was off to Lymington, stopping at the valet service outside Brockenhurst to do petal and beastie removal. The guys running this service are so efficient, helpful and really good I would urge you to experience their service. My car has never looked so clean in such a short time, it was magic. However there are a few spiders still in residence as I was faced with literally when I opened my boot this morning!
I then went to meet the lovely Colin Taylor for a rare lunch, who is a keen CRP supporter and helped us out hugely for the 150 year celebration last year in running a photographic competition sponsored by SWT. This saw a good turn out on the day of photographers from far and wide who could be spotted in fields between Lym and Brock to get the best shot of the Battle of Britain locomotive pulling the carriages packed full of passengers.
Colin I hope is going to help us tackle setting up ‘Friends of Lymington-Brockenhurst’ and I shall be setting up a meeting soon with other interested parties soon and if you should like to be involved, please email me, I would love to hear from you.
Lunch was at the fantastically place Lymington Town Sailing Club, where we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine and hazy, distant view of the Isle of Wight.
Next week (26th May) we will hear whether we have been successful for the BIG lottery grant ‘Awards for All’. This hoped for 10k will be kick starting the remainder of the sign posting project including the ‘Rail Trail’ for which the partnership have enlisted the help of a local artist ‘Trudi Lloyd Williams. Trudi will be working with local primary school children to do pavers using recycled local materials to lead the way.
The day finished with taking a few photographs 'On my way home' which can be seen in the gallery for those interested.
Have a great bank holiday weekend, the sun is going to shine!
10th July 2009
I can’t believe where the time goes!
As usual I have been frantically busy with both partnerships, with some projects ending and some just beginning.
The map board for Brockenhurst is being produced as I type and will be installed in a matter of weeks ready for the tourists in the school holidays to come and hopefully spend time in Brockenhurst and the surrounding area. (see projects)
Unfortunately we were not successful for the Awards for All fund, which has paused the ‘Rail Trail’ and signposting project in Lymington. I say paused as have every confidence we will find the money for this project.
The people times the vehicle squared survey (PV2) conducted in late March on Gosport Street at the top of Station Street showed whilst there did need to be some traffic calming put in place, the site did not warrant a crossing. Some plans have now been drawn up for three possible sites one of which will be determined by a public consultation and work with the Town Council.
TravelSafe is on the Island coming to a close with the production of posters, credit sized card pull out information and a DVD all to support the scheme of safe responsible travel to all using public transport. Here the project has just started and Priestlands school will be ‘on location’ on the 20th July with the CRO and Hampshire Constabulary’s photographer to gather transport images to then create their own TravelSafe poster and cards which will go around the New Forest to schools, community organisations, health centres and libraries. The poster will be produced over the summer ready for a launch in October at the start of TravelSafe week.
Both stations are looking as usual fantastic with the added planters and hanging baskets from the Medina Centre on the island, a centre for adults with moderate to severe learning difficulties. I am keen to find an organisation locally to grow the plants and make more planters ready for next year so if anyone has any suggestions I would welcome your thoughts.
The CRP had their Annual General Meeting last Friday (3rd July) which went well and lots of ideas for the CRP were discussed as well as re-electing of Mel Kendal as Chair and appointing Chris Gregory from New Forest National Park Authority as the new secretary of the CRP. Mike Headerly has stepped down as secretary and the CRP’s thanks were minuted for his hard work in getting the CRP started.
Finally I am still ‘hot desking’ at New Forest District Council in Lymington as we have a tiny technical hitch of a lack of power upstairs at the station. Will update you as to where I am when I know!
I will be off in August as I take all my annual leave in one ‘hit’ to be with my children in their summer holidays and will be holidaying in Cowes! If I don’t update the site before I go, have a lovely summer, here hoping the sun will shine and people will be out and about using our lovely railway, I certainly will and 1st trip is Thomas with my girls, the smaller one at nearly 3 a passionate fan.
September 14th 2009
I can’t believe we are in September and the trees are all turning at a speed that (forgive the pun) leafs me breathless and not a little sad. The summer already seems so far away with me ferreting out all my winter woollies that I’m sure I only put away last week! Though all the seasons are stunning in their own way I do get that ‘back to school’ feeling when an eagerly anticipated season arrives and departs so quickly.
I took all of my saved annual leave at once to spend time with the family and to see my brother in Cadiz, where he lives and runs a back packing hostel called ‘Casa Caracol’ which means ‘Snail House’. The website for this fine place will be up and running soon and Cadiz and the experience of ‘backpacking’ for the younger traveller is a must.
These weeks sped past with a kaleidoscope of activity ranging from Cowes week, Cadiz, swimming, sailing, the last minute frantically put together barbeque, the constant mountain of ironing and DIY!
I have selected a few summer photos photo’s……….enjoy!
Son skateboarding
Here we are at nearly Halloween, the clocks have just gone back, which I hate and again as I write this blog I am acutely aware of how time is racing towards end off year. We have had some hugely positive things happen and also not so encouraging too. Unfortunately even though we have 12k funding in place to start TravelSafe on the mainland, Priestland’s School have withdrawn their support with the young peoples involvement, which given the massive outcomes both geographically and for the pupils themselves is a great shame. But that’s where we are.
Brockenhurst College however have expressed an interest to deliver the project, which from a Policing point of view has far better outcomes with increased numbers of young people who use public transport going to and from the college every day.
So, end of half term this week and I am keen to really kick start this project forward to benefit the mainland as the Island has with the considerable outcomes this project brings.
Still on the TravelSafe note I am keen to deliver through drama and part of its message, safe and responsible behaviour through drama and workshops. This is going to be delivered on the island at the end of February and I am keen to deliver it here before the Easter holidays.
The Brockenhurst Church of England Primary School trip was a huge success, though the organising of the day out to the Steam railway on the Isle of Wight for 180 pupils plus 18 staff was a logistical nightmare and required precision planning not seen since possibly the organising of D Day.
South West trains and Wightlink were as usual fantastic in giving free travel to the school, which had to travel in 2 groups for safety due to the sheer size of the groups and the capacity of both the trains and ferries.
4 staggered busses from Wightbus took the groups to Havenstreet for the visist and back for 2 separate ferry and train journeys back to Brockenhurst!
Read more about the day in events……………
Tomorrow30th October, I am meeting Jim Cornell at Lymington Town Station with Brockenhurst College to discuss a new and exciting venture with the upstairs renovation/refurbishment to house the college as potential tenants to deliver training in the community. I will update the projects page next week when I know more!!!!
You will have seen that there is to be an event to mark the withdrawal of the slam door heritage trains in May next year. The CRP is going to be taking the lead on this for the railway event working in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and the town to look at a feasible, reasonable and realistic supporting event that will it is hoped, bring people into the town.
The working group is being led by Chair Mel Kendal and it is hoped that the event will be along the lines of the successful 150 year celebration held in July last year.
Plans are also moving along with the plan for the Line Guide to be launched in April next year with the planned distribution of 200000 publications all around SWT area of the SE. It will be in partnership with the Islands CRP and 3 Rivers, with the planned promotion of attractions in the area offering 2 for 1 deals to those with a valid rail ticket. In the past I have asked for advertisers contributions in order for the publication to work. This time we will have secured funding prior to initiating the design and content but will ask the attractions for a nominal fee to go towards the next publication in 2013.
Finally the farmer’s market trail is a step closer now with me and Andy Naylor from South West Trains meeting up with Wightlink to discuss dates. The weekend is likely to be 24th 25th April, a week before the bank holiday but still firmly on the shoulder of the season to encourage people to come down from London. Along with advertising in London there will be blanket advertising through the SE to encourage people to come by rail to taste the delights the New Forest and Isle of Wight have to offer. The trail will start in Brockenhurst, with its hoped volunteers offering samples of food to passengers on the train to Lymington and boat to Yarmouth. It’s hoped that we can then hold another market in the town and at Shanklin Station. Food will then be handed out on the train between Shanklin and Ryde and ferries to Portsmouth, where again it is hoped that we can link in with the Farmers Market held on Gunwharf Quays.
If it is a success it is hope the event will be run again in the autumn and so on…….
So, busy as always….not an hour in the day wasted and always running to catch up. The CRP are starting to meet more regularly again, which is good but does take up time which might make me a witch, which brings us back neatly to Halloween and the fact that we get no trick or treats at our door as we offer ‘the healthy option’ of a huge bowl of fruit! It works really well, you should try!
