Unique artwork celebrating Crewe unveiled at station

• Largescale artwork celebrating Crewe has been unveiled at town’s railway station
• Local artist and Cheshire charity repurpose waste materials for art piece
• Installation created as part of project supported by Avanti West Coast to connect young people to railway

An art installation that celebrates Crewe has been unveiled at the town’s railway station as part of a community project to engage young people in the railway.

Located on platform 12, the art installation features icons from organisations and industries associated with Crewe, including the railway, Bentley Motors, renown ice cream van manufacturers, Whitby Morrison, and Mornflake.

The artwork is made up from repurposed waste materials including bottle tops, toy parts, buttons, pens, beads and tiles. It also features brightly coloured figures representing the town’s community that have been installed on the platform.

The unique art pieces have been created as part of a project by Central Cheshire Buddies Scheme – a charity that supports children and young people with disabilities, as well as sibling young carers.

Titled ‘Train Buddies’, the project aims to give disabled children and young carers experiences linked to the railway they would not ordinarily have access to. It will see three of the charity’s activity groups take the train for days out on the West Coast Main Line by the end of March 2025 - a total of 24 journeys. Over the summer the children enjoyed trips to Blackpool to visit Blackpool Tower, the circus and Sea Life.

Avanti West Coast backed the initiative through its Customer and Communities Investment Fund, which supports activities that address social needs local to its route.

Over the last four months, the children got creative in workshops at Crewe station delivered by local artist, Sue Guildford of Junk Art Creations. Sue, who specialises in repurposing discarded materials for fun art pieces worked with the charity to design a series of installations that would act as a legacy to the Train Buddies initiative. 

Taryn Banks, Avanti West Coast Station Manager at Crewe, said: ”We’ve loved welcoming Sue and Cheshire Buddies to the station to give waste materials a new lease of life and are delighted with the results! The unique artwork provides a warm welcome to those travelling to and from the town by train and is a great celebration of Crewe.

“Supporting projects that make a positive difference to the people and places we serve is important to us at Avanti West Coast. So, we’re proud to play our part in connecting disabled children and young carers to new experiences. We look forward to welcoming Cheshire Buddies for their next journey and hope they catch a glimpse of their brilliant artwork as they arrive or depart the station by train.”

Stephanie Lawley of Cheshire Buddies said: “We’re delighted to see the artwork in place at Crewe station. The children have worked on it for the past four months, so it’s great to see it finished and in place. We’re so proud of what the children have achieved with the support of Junk Art Creations. The artwork is a legacy of our Train Buddies initiative, and we hope it will be at the station for many years to come.”

Reflecting on her involvement in the artwork, Sue Guildford said: “I love working with Cheshire Buddies and have completed many projects with them over the years. This project was the most challenging, fun and rewarding. My eldest son is learning disabled and has taken part in Cheshire Buddies activities, so working with disabled children is important to me and partnering with Cheshire Buddies is a joy and privilege.

“It’s great to be part of a legacy piece of artwork celebrating some of the iconic companies and industries associated with Crewe. It was a very proud moment to see my vision finally installed and on view for everyone to enjoy for many years to come."     

ENDS