Hidden disability
With more than 850,000 people in Britain living with dementia, including tens of thousands near the Bentham Line, the Leeds-Morecambe Community Rail Partnership felt it was the right time to focus on this group, to help them continue to enjoy travelling and sharing experiences with others. The bold concept was to create Britain’s first-ever dementia-friendly railway route on the Bentham Line.
The project group featured representatives from the CRP, Northern, the Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia Friendly Keighley, the Forest of Bowland AONB, Community Rail Network and CrossCountry Trains. It focused on three main aims:
■ To raise awareness of dementia with staff, volunteers and passengers.
■ To support the journeys of those living with dementia, and their carers and supporters.
■ To create dementia-friendly station environments and activities.
The project group delivered more than 30 workshops to around 260 people. This has included rail industry groups such as Northern’s frontline staff working on the Bentham Line, Northern’s apprentices and year-in-industry students, rail revenue protection and gateline staff, Network Rail employees, and Leeds-based staff from both Northern and LNER.
Training has also been provided to British Transport Police, Community Rail Network, station adoption groups and neighbouring Community Rail Partnerships, the National Citizens Service, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, and local businesses and community representatives.
The partnership carried out audits of the line’s stations, looking for ways of making them dementia-friendly, such as simplifying options for displaying information, buying tickets, and finding the right platform and train.
A detailed report was presented to Northern and Network Rail as they prepared plans for a major refurbishment of Keighley station, and station adopters at Bentham introduced simplified timetable posters which were well-received by all passengers.
Public art
Network Rail and Severnside Community Rail Partnership and local partners collaborated to improve the appearance of the Fox Park Viaduct, situated on Stapleton Road in Easton, Bristol.
Five local artists and artist groups have worked with the local community to cover up graffiti on the four pillars of the viaduct. The public art they created reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of neighbourhoods in the region, and has attracted local media coverage and social media buzz.
The project team continues to develop the Fox Park area with Incredible Edible, aiming to use the space to engage and support underrepresented people in horticulture.
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
■ Understand it. As a leader in rail, do you know what social value your organisation is delivering? Try to see how you are serving the community and fabrics of society, and make the case to your Board and funders.
■ Feel it. Try to experience or understand your offering from the place of the vulnerable, marginalised or disabled customer. Engage beyond the usual suspects to understand both the barriers and the potential that rail brings.
■ Measure it. Look at how your organisation can start understanding its impact. The Rail Safety and Standards Board’s Social Value measurement tool is a good place to start.
■ Shout about it. Many rail organisations are already doing good things and delivering positive social value. Let your customers and communities know.
WHAT NEXT IN SOCIAL VALUE?
It is often said that the social elements of sustainability are where environment was ten years ago - a simplification, of course, but still useful.
If we look at the trajectory of carbon, it has gone from the right thing but too expensive to a fundamental driver of public and private decision-making.
We are now seeing that increased demand on social value from Government and private investors. Whether through values in transport appraisal, a minimum 10% weighting in public procurement, or increasing demands on ESG from investors, social value is going to play an ever-increasing role in how resources are allocated.
This will need far more clarity on measurement and benefits - a much greater challenge than with carbon. It will also need better understanding of the risk and opportunity associated with all activities and integrating social value into mainstream decision-making in a way that is starting to happen with carbon.
In rail, we should expect to see this as a core element of the new Great British Railway, in the way it sets strategy, makes decisions and buys services - including those of train operators. Social value should be at the heart of rail’s new brand.
