An innovative renovation and repurposing by community volunteers of a derelict railway station building in Warwickshire has received national recognition.
The Friends of Henley Railway Station (FHRS) has received a Highly Commended award from the Railway Heritage Trust in its 2024 National Railway Heritage Awards. The Highly Commended Award was given to the Friends of Henley Railway station at a ceremony in London at the Merchant Taylors Hall on Wednesday, 4 December 2024.
Earlier this year, in February, “The Station at Henley in Arden”, as it is now known, was reopened as a community venue that hosts a bar and is available for corporate and community events. The Station operates as a Community Interest Company, which means that any surplus made in its operation is given back to the community at Henley in Arden, with some also being distributed to other communities along the railway route between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon, which is known as ‘the Shakespeare Line’.
While Henley in Arden is on part of the national rail network, its original GWR station building was closed in 1992 and was boarded and bricked up. Over the following thirty years, the building fell into significant dereliction. In 2021, the community at Henley in Arden stepped forward to change that and Friends of Henley Station CIC was formed.
Its vision was to reopen the building by restoring it as much as was practically possible to its original GWR condition while repurposing the building to ensure its long-term sustainability, the latter point being the primary purpose and driver of the scheme.
Angela Okey, Chair and a Director of FHRS and Fraser Pithie, another Director of FHRS, attended the Railway Heritage Trust ceremony to receive the Highly Commended Award.
After receiving the award, Angela Okey said, “After all the hard work of the past 5 years, it was great to receive national recognition for our project. Only this week, we have distributed £15k amongst nine local community groups. The satisfaction of being able to do this, especially given that we have still not reached 12 months of trading, is incredible. The project has surpassed our expectations, and our team loves seeing our regulars and new customers experiencing our unique proposition. We aim to continue offering unique events and community fundraising evenings to benefit our local town and surrounding villages.”
Andy Savage Chair of the National Railway Heritage Awards 2024 presents the Highly Commended award to Angela Okey, Chair and Director of Friends of Henley Railway Station and Fraser Pithie, Director of FHRS.
