Friends of Goostrey Station (FOGS) is a group of enthusiastic volunteers who aim to make Goostrey railway station a place which our community can be proud of. As a result we have won 10 awards from Cheshire Best Kept Stations and 4 national awards from Community Rail.
In 2018, former MP for Congleton Fiona Bruce commented : ‘a real model of constructive joint working on the part of local residents of which this community can be rightly proud’. In October 2019 she tabled an early day motion in Parliament to commend FoGS on their work.
FoGS vice chair and professional artist Debbie Goldsmith uses the restored Victorian wooden building on platform one as her studio.
We meet on the second Sunday of each month when platforms, paths and steps are swept, tubs of plants on the platforms are maintained and the planted areas around the station are improved. New volunteers will be warmly welcomed.
The achievements of FOGS since it formed in 2012 include :
- opportunities for young people to work towards Beaver, Cub & Rainbow badges and the Duke of Edinburgh Award
- the creation of a pleasant seating area on the Manchester platform by introducing tubs of flowering plants and mounting a station oil lamp, the keystone of the old road bridge and awards from Cheshire Best Kept Stations
- regular exhibitions of artwork by pupils from Goostrey Community Primary School in a platform shelter
- Goostrey Connections : two banners designed by Stockport based artist Eamonn Murphy
- community projects to create a platinum plaque and coronation discs to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee and King Charles’ coronation
- negotiations which resulted in the repair of a platform shelter; improvements to the car park entrance; reconnection of the water supply; the installation of a cycle rack and display cabinets; and the restoration of the Victorian modular, wooden building and its conversion to Goostrey Art Studio
- use of a GIS system to monitor the effect on biodiversity of new bird & bat boxes and bug hotels
- a gold award from Wild About Goostrey in 2019
- success in the annual Cheshire Best Kept Station competition : 2014 most improved station; 2016 Art Project; 2017 Youth Challenge; 2018 Diversity; 2019 Campaigns; 2020 Special Award; 2021 Sustainability; 2022 Best Unstaffed Station; 2023 Art Project; 2024 Community Engagement
- success in the national Community Rail Awards : 2019 and 2024 first place for a photo capturing the essence of Community Rail; 2022 silver in the photo category, first place for the Most Enhanced Railway Space and an award for our Outstanding Contribution to Community Rail; 2019 & 2020 gold in the It’s Your Station category; 2024 & 2025 platinum in the It’s Your Station category; 2025 bronze in the photo category