Kingston-based not-for-profit, The Community Brain, will join local organisations and their volunteers across the United Kingdom for this year's Community Rail Week, celebrating British railways' continuous 'mission' to better connect communities.

The Community Brain, part of Community Train CRP - Southwest London's Community rail partnership, will be showcasing a range of activities at Baking Ideas, a community space and kitchen at Tolworth Station, mostly involving participation by local community members and Kingston University students during the celebrations from 22 - 28 May.

Events also set to be included will be Flowers We Give To Ukraine, a programme of community integration tapestry projects that were developed by local curator, Magdalena Glowacka, who, following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, started the Polish-Ukrainian community group in Tolworth called Ariadne's Thread. 

This will be followed by the launch of a new book about the nearby Chessington Industrial Estate, documenting the history, legacy and current innovations that are presently taking place on the Estate. A collaboration between The Community Brain and Kingston University publishing students.

The Community Brain will also be launching their third walking route guide in the local area which is part of a series of walks in Kingston through its lesser known green spaces. Routes will be in the south of the Borough around Chessington South and Malden Rushett, which is towards the south Kingston boundary.

The Community Brain's 'Baking Ideas' space at Tolworth Station will play host to a series of projects during this month's Community Rail Week

Over fifty empowering community events and engaging activities are taking place throughout Community Rail Week nationwide – from Edinburgh to Cornwall – aiming to improve travel confidence, increase access to opportunity, tackle social isolation, give communities a voice, and put railways and stations at the heart of community life.

The celebratory week also aims to encourage people who rarely use public transport to consider the benefits of making at least the occasional switch to greener, healthier, more social forms of travel, including rail.

Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network, said: "Community rail partnerships and thousands of 'station friends' volunteers the length and breadth of Britain are this week mobilising en masse, engaging local people and partners to raise awareness about rail travel, and get people enthused about its benefits.

"It's all about connecting communities and bringing people together, while supporting and enabling more people to travel sustainably by train and access the opportunities they want. Community rail has an inspiring track record of doing just that: promoting travel confidence and broadening mobility horizons, sometimes with life-changing effects, while giving communities a voice on transport, and putting railways and stations at the heart of community life."

Throughout the year, The Community Brain organises a range of community events and activities in Tolworth, Surbiton and Kingston to encourage people to get involved in their local community in any capacity they can.

The Community Brain is part of The Community Train CRP which is a Community rail partnership between Tolworth, Surbiton, New Malden, Malden Manor, Chessington South, Raynes Park and Motspur Park.

For more information on The Community Brain's work across the Kingston borough, visit its website here.

Community Rail Week has been organised by Community Rail Network, which aims to support community-based groups and partnerships that connect their community with their railway and deliver social benefit.

More information can be found here.