Media centre

Thursday 3 Jun 2021

'Make a Wish' at Network Rail’s Southern region stations to build hope after pandemic

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

| Southern

| Southern: Sussex

Four major railway stations in Network Rail’s Southern region are supporting an initiative to allow passengers to share their hopes, dreams and wishes for life after the pandemic.

London Bridge, Waterloo, Victoria and Guildford stations are all installing ‘wish trees’ in the effort to build hope and confidence as people make their way back to seeing their friends and loved ones and get back to travelling.

The trees are an acknowledgment of the impact the Covid pandemic has had on people’s mental health over the past 15 months. Passengers are encouraged to leave wishes as they pass through.

The four participating stations have been issued with 1,000 post-it notes for passengers to write down their message and display it on a tree. A member of staff is on hand throughout to make sure wishes are made in a Covid-secure way and people are free to keep the pens that they use.

The idea came about as Ciara Thorn, station transformation project manager, wanted to bring back some positivity as restrictions were easing.

Ciara said “I wanted our passengers to feel a ray of hope as they start travelling again, whether that’s for business or leisure. It’s amazing to see so many passengers interacting with the wish trees as they come back to our stations.”

Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Southern region stations director said “It’s been a tough year for everyone, but we hope the wish trees will provide a little bit of hope to all of our returning passengers. It’s great to see the wishes going up across our stations, the displays look fantastic.”

The wish trees are displayed in the main concourse areas for all to see.