Do you have green fingers and fancy turning Ipswich railway station into a green oasis? If so Greater Anglia bosses want to hear from you.

They are appealing for more “station adopters” to help improve the environment of stations across the region by developing station gardens or introducing planters or hanging baskets to make it more attractive for passengers beginning or ending their journeys.

Many stations – mainly small halts serving local communities – have already been adopted. Some larger stations, including Cambridge which is the busiest station outside London in the region, have also had adopters step in.

Now Greater Anglia is looking for individuals or groups to adopt stations including Ipswich, Westerfield, Needham Market and Thurston.

Greater Anglia’s Community Engagement Manager, Alan Neville, said “We are hoping that individuals, community organisations or local councils, who have an interest in improving their local rail station and bringing it into the heart of the community, will come forward with their ideas.

“Local communities are best placed to know which improvements and projects will benefit them most and we can help them realise their plans through our Station Adoption scheme.”

Greater Anglia provides some funding via the scheme which can help adopters cover the costs of small projects, such as the creation of station gardens and the purchase of flowers, tubs, hanging baskets, tools and materials to help improve the station environment.

Anyone interested in joining the Adopt a Station scheme should contact Alan.Neville@greateranglia.co.uk

The voluntary scheme was originally created in 2003 to improve lines of communication between the train operator and station users.

Station adopters now playing an active role in keeping stations looking good through inventive gardening projects, creative community art schemes, or by being the eyes and ears of their station.

Greater Anglia now has 93 of its 133 stations “adopted”, with over 200 volunteers across the region helping to make their station an impressive gateway to their local community.