Two railway stations in Worcestershire – Kidderminster and Droitwich Spa – are now displaying new collections of flowers, after a summer makeover by volunteer groups who work with West Midlands Railway (WMR).

WMR’s station adoption fund provided a grant to pay for the new floral arrangements.

Kidderminster station’s new displays were planted by the Kidderminster Mainline Station Adoption Group, which is made up of ten volunteers from the Wyre Forest & District University of the Third Age (u3a), which also installed an impressive artwork at the station two years ago. This time, the volunteers turned a boat into a planter and used it to hold a new display of flowers.

Kidderminster station serves the large town of the same name and the wider Wyre Forest district. The station is on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line, with regular commuter services running to both Birmingham and Worcester.

The planting at Droitwich Spa is the work of the Friends of Droitwich Spa, a group which aims to enhance biodiversity through its projects.

The station is located a little to the south-west of Droitwich Spa Junction, where the Worcester to Leamington Spa line and the Worcester to Birmingham New Street line intersect. Each year, around half a million passenger journeys are made to and from the station, which originally opened in 1852.

Station adopters are groups of volunteers who help to keep their local station well maintained. The projects they run include gardening, painting and installing artwork, or providing information boards.

Between them, West Midlands Railway and its sister brand London Northwestern Railway (LNR) have more than 440 volunteers working across their 155 stations, some of whom brightened up the station at Milton Keynes.

The new displays in Kidderminster and Droitwich are beautiful and really brighten up the two stations. Our station adopters work really hard to make stations more welcoming for the local community and we hope passengers enjoy the flowers as they travel through.

Shantel Carty, community engagement manager at West Midlands Railway