Máedóc Ellis

Said the following about Heather Cullimore:

“I wish to nominate Heather Cullimore for the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work over more than a decade with the Severnside Community Rail Partnership. Heather works as the line officer for the Partnership, and brings a determined and positive attitude to her role in enhancing community involvement in the railway across the Bristol and Somerset areas, covering over 20 stations.

Thanks to her hard work, as the sole full-time salaried staff member, she has helped grow the partnership from strength to strength, facilitating a range of cross-industry projects involving vulnerable young people, refugees, and those with additional needs. Severnside is now recognised as a leader in the field of community rail, demonstrated in their selection for delivery a DfT funded project examining how rail could help tackle the problem of loneliness.

Heather’s passion has most recently been demonstrated in her work to improve Stapleton Road station in Bristol, which has suffered from high-levels of anti-social behaviour. Securing funding from third parties and the industry, over the last five years Heather has lead on delivering new artwork to the station painted by a local artist, arranged for the install of new entrance gates designed and crafted by a local blacksmith, and worked with the Ministry of Justice’s Community Payback team to clean up the station frontage. This has all begun to have a positive impact and local residents and station users have remarked on the difference the work has made.

Heather’s work at Stapleton Road is one example of her determination to turn the railway into an asset that the whole community can take pride in, and her tireless work makes a real difference.“