Local schoolchildren have brought some festive cheer to Greater Anglia’s White Notley station in Essex ahead of the Christmas holidays.
All 105 children at White Notley C of E primary school braved the cold and were in fine voice as they visited the station dressed in Santa hats to sing carols to locals on Tuesday 10 December.
The Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and local station adopters invited the school to the station as part of a series of events to raise the profile of the station, which, in 2023/2024, was the least used station in Essex with 6,990 entries and exits.
White Notley C of E primary school, Head of School, Patsy Fitzpatrick, said:
“The school and the station are important parts of this community so we thought it would be a great idea to connect the two in this way.”
After singing on the platform, the students from year 5 and year 6 boarded a Greater Anglia train towards Braintree to serenade other passengers with more Christmas carols. This also marked some of the children’s first travel on a train.
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Schoolchildren on a Greater Anglia service from White Notley to Braintree (credit: Greater Anglia)
Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership Officer, Jayne Sumner, said:
“It was lovely to see the platform alive and singing with so many children. To hear the pupils in such fine voice and see their smiles as they visited the station was a fantastic festive treat.”
While the station is unstaffed, it is supported by Greater Anglia’s Station Adoption scheme. The scheme enables individuals or groups to adopt their local railway station and contribute to its use and welfare for the benefit of their community. White Notley has been adopted by Scott Dolling and his family since 2023.
White Notley Station Adopter, Scott Dolling, said:
“We lived at the station house here and my parents were the crossing keepers for many years. When I heard about White Notley being the least used station, our family wanted to try and help get it known for being more than that, so we have created a few events to inspire people to use their local station more.”
“This link with the school has seen the station busier than ever before and the carols on the platform were truly beautiful.”
Greater Anglia’s Community & Customer Engagement Manager, Alan Neville, said:
“This is a wonderful initiative, and we are very grateful to the Station Adopters and Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership for the great work they are doing to put railways at the heart of the communities they serve and create a sense of pride in young people for their local railway station.”
