Inspiring Community Through Creativity: Reflections from the Govia Train Railway (GTR) Community Conference 2025
- Rose Hill
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Last Thursday, I had the joy of attending and speaking at the Govia Train Railway (GTR) Community Conference 2025, held at the beautiful St Bride Foundation in London. This event brought together station partners, community rail representatives, gardening and creative organisations and GTR teams for a day of sharing, connecting and imagining what’s possible when we work together to make the railway more inclusive, creative, and community-led.
As the dedicated station Artist partner for GTR, I support creative projects across the network, helping turn station spaces into places that reflect the stories, culture and pride of the communities they serve. Whether it’s murals, workshops or placemaking ideas, my goal is to help bring more art, care and co-creation to the railway.
Speaking on Creativity, Community and Connection
I was invited to open the day by joining the first panel, “Navigating the Railway Industry,” alongside other brilliant organisations like Cambridge Sustainable Food and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
There was a technical issue with the slides, so I filled the gap with my best stand-up routine, which went down really well before sharing more about what we do at Co-Creative Connection, and how creativity can be a powerful tool for engagement. I spoke about the murals we’ve co-created at stations like our award winning community mural at Finsbury Park, and how involving schools, local groups and residents doesn’t just result in beautiful artwork, it builds relationships, increases station pride, and changes how people feel about their environment.
I shared reflections from past projects and offered advice to other station partners on how they can use creativity as a catalyst for connection, whether it’s starting small with a chalkboard or dreaming big with a community-designed mural.
A Full-Circle Moment from 2022
One of the most special moments of the day was hearing from Sarah Groves at Cam Valley CRP who attended our 2022 GTR conference talk in Brighton. That year, I led a 55-minute workshop on Empowering the Community, where we explored how to connect with local groups, represent wider voices, and co-create with care.
She gave me and Co-Creative Connection a shout-out in her 10-minute presentation, saying our workshop stayed with her and inspired her to develop a mural project at her Cam Valley station involving schools, local organisations, and community groups. Hearing that a conversation sparked in that Brighton conference led to something so real, lasting and joyful… means the world to me!
These are the ripple effects that matter. This is why we show up, share stories, and talk about the “why” behind what we do.
Learning from Each Other
Beyond our own session, the day was packed with inspiring conversations, from workshops on social media and digital engagement, to a powerful panel on “The Future of Community Rail”. That session, led by Colin Burcombe from the Community Rail Network, asked us to think 10 years ahead: What kind of rail network do we want to be part of? What should stations feel like for the next generation?
There were also valuable insights from Network Rail on how volunteers and community groups can work together to bring spaces to life, and from various CRPs and local partners who are leading beautiful, grassroots work on the ground. Across all the talks, one message came through clearly: the future of community rail is collaborative, creative, and deeply connected to the people it serves.
When we work together, across organisations, regions, and sectors, we don’t just improve stations, we build stronger communities around them.
Connection, Creativity and What’s Next
The conference left me feeling re-energised and hopeful. It’s amazing to see so many passionate people dedicated to making railways more welcoming, inclusive and inspiring, not just as a means of transport, but as spaces of connection and care.
This week, we also hosted our first discussion-based workshop on bringing communities together through creative projects, and it was such a success! Everyone was so engaged, and the ideas shared were absolutely incredible. There’s something really powerful about holding space for people to share, dream and problem-solve together. I’m so excited for the next one on Tuesday the 8th of July, if you’d like to join us, you can sign up here!
To everyone who attended the conference or our first workshop this week, thank you so much! And a massive thank you to the GTR team for organising such a powerful conference. It was brilliant to be part of it!
Let’s Create Together
If you're a station partner, rail representative, local group or organisation who’d like to explore creative ways to engage your community, I’d love to chat.
💬 Get in touch to see how we can collaborate on meaningful murals, placemaking projects or co-created ideas along the GTR network!
Let’s keep the momentum going 💛
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