Bloomin marvellous honour for Crianlarich Station 'adopter'

Monday 16 March 2009 

A Crianlarich man who ‘adopted’ the village’s railway station has been recognised by ScotRail.

Gordon Gaughan – who runs Crianlarich Station’s famous tearoom with his wife Maureen – now tends 20 tubs of flowers on the platform.

Adding the burst of colour earned him second place in ScotRail’s awards scheme for Adopt a Station initiatives, designed to encourage local involvement and put stations at the heart of communities.

He was just pipped to the post by Peter McKinley, who adopted Whitecraigs Station in East Renfrewshire and has also enhanced the overall appearance by introducing flowers.

Gordon, 59, received his Best New Individual Adopter certificate at a lunch in Glasgow.

Gordon was delighted at being honoured.

He said: “This has been a lovely day and it is wonderful to be recognised in this way.

“After running the tearoom at the station for so long, it was an added bonus to be given the opportunity by ScotRail to ‘adopt’ the station.”

John Yellowlees, ScotRail’s external relations manager, added: “Our Adopt a Station scheme is about putting stations at the heart of their communities.

“We are delighted that so many groups and individuals like Gordon are making a real difference to enhancing the overall appearance with colourful floral displays.”

Since launched in September 2005, the train operator’s Adopt a Station scheme has gone from strength to strength - with 71 stations now benefitting from floral displays maintained by volunteers.  Other initiatives include spectacular murals, coffee shops, a charity bookshop, a toy library and community meeting rooms.

Media enquiries:
Carla Rinaldi, Communications Assistant: 0141 335 5156 / carla.rinaldi@firstgroup.com
Iain Wilson, Head of Media Relations: 0141 335 4565 / iain.wilson@firstgroup.com
Out of hours: 07738 141 198 / www.scotrail.co.uk