New Look Waiting Room Opens at Saxmundham Train Station

Thursday, 13 November 2025 06:00

A vandalised waiting room at Saxmundham station has been transformed into a colourful community space, thanks to a £6,500 grant from Greater Anglia’s Customer and Community Improvement Fund.

The project, which brought together local schoolchildren, artists, and poets, has turned the once-damaged area into a bright and welcoming environment celebrating Saxmundham’s creativity.

Children from Saxmundham Primary School created artwork featuring flowers and swallows, while local artists helped repaint the room in cheerful blue tones, adding designs of swallows, the Greater Anglia hare, and a locally inspired poem.

The official reopening was marked by a community celebration with singing, cupcakes, and a red-ribbon ceremony attended by parents, children, and local residents.

Scott Dolling, Greater Anglia’s Partnerships Manager, said the initiative reflected the company’s commitment to working with local communities:

“We are pleased to support this project and enhance our station. Refurbishing the waiting room in this way gives local artists and schoolchildren a creative role — and experience shows that community artwork like this can help prevent further vandalism.”

Thalia Woodgate, from the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership, added that the project had “helped restore pride and ownership in Saxmundham.”

The scheme forms part of Greater Anglia’s wider investment in 28 community projects this year through its £350,000 improvement fund, supporting initiatives from biodiversity and heritage schemes to station enhancements and education projects across East Anglia.