Thursday 29th August saw the opening of the latest development on the Attenborough station in Beeston to be delivered by the volunteer adopters, the Attenborough Elderflowers the Attenborough Story, yesterday and today.
In less than two years the volunteers, with help of funding and donations from National Lottery, Nottinghamshire County Council, Tesco’s Bags of Help and local residents, commuters, Councillors and businesses, have together greened both station platforms with a fabulous display of planters and plants.
Feedback from Station users is encouraging and rewarding, especially as it’s not been easy to maintain the planters with the two hot summers we’ve had. However nearly 20 volunteers have worked together in ensuring that there has been plenty of watering. So successful that over two years each platform has separately been awarded a national silver award by the Association of Community Rail Partnership’s. The latest was only announced last week!
What more was there to do other than keep planting? Well early surveys on the station came up with support not just for the greening but also for storyboards giving more information about the station and village and promoting it to visitors. So the volunteers, helped by many other people with local knowledge, history, photos and stories, unveiled the storyboards on 29th August 2019.
It was unveiled by the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council Kevin Rostance, local MP Anna Soubry and local County and Borough Councilors Richard Jackson and Eric Kerry. The Elderflowers were also there explaining the stories behind their planting and the Attenborough Story Yesterday and Today.
One issue that occurred however is that so many people were providing research and content for the storyboards that it was impossible to include them all on the platforms! As a result, there are links on each storyboard to a website for more information. The board also tells people how to become an Elderflower to help maintain the planters, and donate to keep maintaining the planters for years to come. See https://attenboroughelderflowers.com for more information.
Councillor John Handley, Vice-Chairman of Communities and Place Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, said:
“Attenborough is one of many places across the county which are benefitting from LIS-funded village signs and displays, helping give our communities even more of a sense of identity and a chance to showcase their fascinating histories. It all goes towards highlighting what a great place Nottinghamshire is to live and visit.”
Attenborough Elderflowers are seeking more money to ensure there is enough funding going forward for maintenance. Their ambition is to extend the greening to other parts of the village. Donations can be made online here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/attenboroughelderflowers