FOGS were awarded a bronze certificate for the Embankment Garden in the It's Your Station category, a third place for the recently installed heritage lighting in the Most Enhanced Station Buildings and Environs category. And a shared second place with our fellow friends at Hadfield, Hattersley and Guide Bridge stations for our recent Teddy Bears' Birthday party event which marked The Queen's 90th Birthday in the Station to Station Celebration project - special award category.
We received our certificates on stage from Alex Hynes Managing Director of Northern who was co-hosting the event with Merseyrail MD Jan Chaudrey-van der Velde. It was really special to be able to celebrate the successes with Babs from Hattersley and Colin from Guide Bridge! Joy from Hadfield was unfortunately unable to attend but got to hear the good news quickly! Babs for Hattersley won top bronze for Hattersley station garden and Guide Bridge's newly established memorial garden gained a second placing - both gardens well worth visiting!! On our table too were Dave and Sue from Friends of Buxton station who won first place for the illumination of their fanlight window at Buxton - a fantastic achievement! It was a good night for Northern as they gained successes in many categories though winners came from all over the UK. The overall winner was Great Western Railway with their CRP's and volunteers. Our congratulations to them.
The occasion allows the meeting and a catch up of friends. Hello's to Mark Barker, Paul Salveson, Gerald Townson, Geoff Mitchell, Sally Buttifant ......And special congratulations to Mike Bishop of Handforth given third place in the outstanding volunteer category. Mike did so much to establish FOGS in the early years.
Penny Greenwood and I would like to thank ACoRP for a memorable evening. We wish General Manager Neil Buxton a happy and healthy retirement! Our thanks also to Matt Worman and Lindsay Marshall for all the hospitality that Northern provided and on our table sincere thanks to Carolyn Watson for being a very amenable and considerate host from Northern. It's good to be part of the Northern family. Although not present huge thanks to Theo Mclauchlan our Glossop Line Manager for all his ongoing help and support. I asked Theo not to go to bed before midnight so I could text him with results. And what good news I had for him!! It was also a pleasure to share these successes with Andrew Walker Partnership officer from High Peak and Hope Valley CRP and his wife Linda and Steve Forde from SEMCORP. We appreciate the national recognition of our work and the local support we receive. Thank you!!