Welcome to the “Your Station, Your Community” funding page
We are delighted to open the fifth round of funding for 2027/28.
In the last year we have made a number of changes to our grant funding programme and it is IMPORTANT that you read the updated information in the guidance document
The Your Station Your Community Fund continues to focus on supporting projects that address issues of shared importance to both the railway and the communities we serve. To strengthen this focus, we have refined our funding priorities to better highlight the areas where we wish to make a difference and to ensure that we can effectively measure and demonstrate the positive outcomes delivered by funded projects.
It is therefore essential that applicants clearly demonstrate how the social issues their project seeks to address align with GTR's own priority areas for action. Successful applications will evidence a direct link between identified community needs and the social challenges that the railway is working to address, enabling meaningful and measurable impact for both communities and the railway network.
We accept bids of up to £50,000
- Bids up to £7,500 – open applications
- Bid between £7,501-£50,000 – we cannot accept bids without you having discussed your project with us before applying
Also talk to us if you think you will need longer than a year to produce the best outcomes for your programme, we can look at how we might be able to support your project over multiple years.
Who can apply?
We welcome applications from registered charities, Community of Interest Companies (CICs), Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs); community groups and other not-for-profit organisations such as community rail partnerships, schools & colleges, Business improvement districts, borough, town and parish councils.
All the grants are not an offer of employment or a payment for services but are charitable grants and should be managed as such.
What we’re looking for
We’re looking for applications for initiatives taking place in and around stations served by Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink on our network; that make a positive impact in one or more of the focus areas listed below. (Please see our route map). The communities supported by your project should be served by one of those stations.
We can, however, only accept bids for work on station property that are managed by Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink (for our managed stations see the list below).
Projects in communities based around managed stations will be prioritised, along with projects that clearly demonstrate the impact for the railway, passengers and staff in their application
Our priority subject areas
Our priority areas for funding are:
- Safer Communities & Safer Travel
- Suicide Prevention & Mental Health
- Sustainability & Climate Action
- Skills & Opportunity
You MUST demonstrate how your project has considered diversity, inclusion and accessibility across all aspects of your proposal, including planning, engagement, delivery, communications and evaluation. We expect funded projects to identify and reduce barriers to participation.
Where a project is specifically intended to support a particular community or group, applicants should explain the rationale for this targeted approach and demonstrate that it is consistent with relevant equality legislation and the objectives of the project.
Under each of the Priority Subject Areas the key issues we are seeking to address are:
Safer Communities & Safer Travel
- Violence & Intimidation Against Women and Girls (VIAWG)
- Hate crime
- Anti-social behaviour
- Modern Slavery
- Victim Support
- Personal safety
- Youth engagement
- Reducing trespass
- Support for vulnerable passengers
- Initiatives improving the station environment
Suicide Prevention & Mental Health
- Tackling loneliness and isolation
- Crisis intervention
- Suicide prevention activity
Sustainability & Climate Action
- Station Travel Plans
- Air quality
- Climate resilience
- Water quality and management
- Reducing energy consumption
- Circular economy programmes
Skills & Opportunity
- Expand youth access to rail careers
- Rail industry career awareness
We also have geographic priorities across the network - please talk to us for more details. We do look to ensure that our grant funding gives full coverage to the issues right across our network.
Funding will need to be spent in full, and projects completed within the financial year (April 27 to March 28).
For further information on what we are looking for in an application, and the criteria please see our application guide.
If you have any questions about a YSYC application or would like to submit a bid for more than £7,500 then please contact ysycfund@gtrailway.com. Please note we will not accept bids over £7,500 that have not been discussed with the community team prior to submission.
What does a good application look like?
- An application that clearly links in with one of the following areas - Safer Communities & Safer Travel, Suicide Prevention & Mental Health, Sustainability & Climate Action, Skills & Opportunity
- Details on who the primary beneficiaries are and numbers of beneficiaries
- What impact will your project have and what mechanism will you use to measuring the outcomes and outputs of the project, taking into account the monitoring tool that we use to evaluate your projects the Rail Social Value Tool
- You must be able to demonstrate and evidence your engagement and/or consultation with your primary beneficiaries
- Ensure that you have addressed any statutory consents that you are aware of that will be needed. And how you will achieve them - especially if it is at a GTR station
- Demonstrate how you can achieve the stated goals of the project, through previous examples of your work or by engagement with partners including having understood the capacity of GTR to be able to assist you in your project
- An accurate and succinct project scope outlining why financial support is needed
- Budget breakdown of funding request, overall project budget and key project milestones
How to apply
Applications close at midnight on Thursday 17th December 2026
Budget sheet (if needed)
Rail Social Value Tool – Main Metrics
Timeline for your application
- Applications open: Wednesday 11th November 2026
- Applications close: Midnight on Thursday 17th December 2026
- Bids reviewed: December/January 2026/27
- Recommended schemes to DfT for approval: February 2027
- Successful bids informed: March 2027
- Agreed monitoring utilising the metrics in the RSVT – March/April 2027
- Grant projects active – 1st May 2027
- Contracts and initial funding awarded: March – April 2027
- 6 monthly monitoring
- Projects completed: 31st March 2028
How we monitor our funding
We use the Rail Social Value Tool to help evaluate funded programmes
There are 5 primary social impact categories:
- Employment and economic
- Health, training, and skills
- Supply chain
- Community
- Environmental
Contact details
If you would like to contact us to discuss your scheme, or for support completing your application, please email us at ysycfund@gtrailway.com and we will be happy to help.