Great Garden Rail Trail This Summer
Note: This story is about the 2023 event but remains here as part of the news archive of the website.
East Suffolk Lines rail station gardens will join St Elizabeth Hospice’s Great Garden Trail this summer to help raise funds for the charity.
The Hospice has partnered with the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership and train operator Greater Anglia to add an exciting new element to its annual fundraiser, creating the Great Garden Rail Trail event, which will take place on 9 July 2023.
Meeting at Ipswich at 10.30, guests will take a special trip by train for a guided tour of the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Lowestoft, highlighting the stunning station gardens that can be found along the route.
The first stop will be Westerfield, where the station adopter volunteer team will give a talk about their work to create a stunning wildlife garden next to the platforms; it’s then off to Beccles for refreshments at the station café.
The trip will then continue to Lowestoft for some sea air and a chance to see how the rail network is working to improve land and green spaces, including a newly created wildlife area at Lowestoft station, before those taking part can return at their leisure.
Tickets will enable attendees to hop on and off on the return journey as much as they like to be able take in the delights of other stations, towns and villages along the line.
Tickets are £15 per adult, which includes a donation to St Elizabeth Hospice and £5 per child and can be booked at railplus.greateranglia.co.uk/specials/community-rail-partnerships/st-elizabeths-hospice-great-garden-trail-9th-july-2023.html
Money raised from the Great Garden Trail helps to fund the hospice’s work across East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney providing care for families and patients living with life-limiting illness.
Lesley Rawlinson, Community and Partnerships Fundraiser at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “Thank you to Greater Anglia and the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership for supporting our Great Garden Trail 2023 and for hosting such a unique experience for hospice supporters.
“The Great Garden Trail has been a great success this year and we are looking forward to exploring even more gardens throughout the summer. Every penny raised really will make a difference to our services as we support people living through difficult times in their lives.”
Aaron Taffera, Chair of the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership, said, “We’re delighted to join the Great Garden Trail to help the Hospice continue its valuable work and are grateful to Greater Anglia for offering a special discounted ticket price which we hope will attract lots of people to come on board for what promises to be an excellent and fascinating day out.”
Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Engagement Manager, said,
“We are really proud to be supporting St Elizabeth’s Hospice with this special Great Garden Rail Trail fundraiser event.
“The day out is taking place in a year when we are celebrating the success of our incredible Station Adoption initiative, which is now in its 20th year and has led to the development of some amazing station gardens along the rail lines in East Anglia.”
Tickets to the annual fundraiser are still available and can be purchased at www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/great-garden-trail/