Meet Heather, manager at Severnside Community Rail Partnership, a Community Interest (not for profit) company, connecting communities with the rail industry and a resident fixed desker at DeskLodge Old Market. Heather loves to be outdoors, watch horse racing and held a Drag Queen Bingo event on a train!
What does Severnside Community Rail Partnership do?
We work with local communities to encourage the use of local trains, ensuring the access to local stations is easy, and to enhance these stations, so they provide a safe and welcoming environment. Our station improvement projects are delivered with the assistance of volunteers, schools, youth groups and the Community Payback scheme. We organise rail familiarisation visits for schools and negotiate favourable ticketing schemes for school travel.
We also host ‘On Train Events’ to promote local services and fund and support research to better understand the needs of passengers and of communities surrounding the railway.
How long have you been coming to Desklodge?
3 years. I have a fixed desk as does our Chairman. We also have two members of the team hotdesking here.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
My role is incredibly varied, and I come into contact with a wide range of people, so no two days are the same. There was an afternoon recently where I went from a three-hour West of England Combined Authority meeting about improving local stations to introducing a ‘Drag Queen Bingo on the Train’ event as part of an initiative to promote the local railway as being socially inclusive. We are lucky that we have the scope to be innovative with our projects and this ensures our work reaches out to the diverse communities surrounding the railway. The street art mural at Montpelier station is another example of where we have pushed the boundaries to great effect.
What is your favourite thing about DeskLodge?
The friendly team and the coffee machine!
What do you do in your spare time?
I spend as much time as possible out of doors and can often be found watching horse racing. I do all I can to support the ventures of my two children who are now young adults.
What is your favourite film?
True Romance
Thanks Heather – See you at the next Drag Queen Bingo Train event!
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