Avanti West Coast communities

Customers Community Investment Fund

Our Customer & Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF) – APPLICATION IS OPEN

We are delighted to announce the next funding round for our Customer & Communities Improvement Fund. Its aim is to support projects across the routes and regions we serve and create a difference that benefits the community.

This is our fifth year of CCIF, and we can’t wait to see the benefits this fund will bring to our stations and our communities!

Find out more in our Guide

Past Customer & Communities Improvement Fund projects

Have a look through some of the projects we supported last year and how they’ve impacted their communities.

table with 4 people on one side in conversation, at the head of the table is a laptop that says "what do we think when we hear train travel


On The Right Track! - Liverpool Mencap group delivers train travel training

We are funding Liverpool and Sefton Mencap to deliver a series of travel confidence training sessions to adult members in Merseyside. Travelling by train can be confusing and concerning for customers, so these workshops help members become more confident by discussing their concerns and highlighting the positives of rail travel.

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Making Cumbrian countryside accessible

Avanti West Coast supports the Outdoor Mobility scheme, which funds Tramper mobile vehicles for various sites of interest. These vehicles allow people to travel around the countryside and to attractions. The Tramper vehicles are designed to navigate easily across muddy paths and uphill terrain, whether in an ancient castle or a woodland area. They are user-friendly, and each person receives a brief training session before hiring them at the venue. One of the locations where these vehicles are available is Sizergh Castle, which is just 20 minutes away from Oxenholme.

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Woman on a mobility scooter built for muddy paths in a wooded leafy area.

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Bee Sanctuary

This project brings colour to Manchester’s ‘Grey 6’ road by putting put planters and flowers along a stretch of the A6 in Levenshulme.

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Train Buddies

Cheshire Buddies bring together young people with a range of disabilities to give them experiences.

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Woodland Games

The Woodland Games are a free, family-friendly festival of arts, music and sport in Birmingham at the end of the summer.

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Bring your community project to life

The Customer & Communities Improvement Fund is in place to support schemes across the Avanti West Coast route. We are looking for ideas that bring benefits to our stations (or a station that we serve) and the communities surrounding them which address regeneration challenges and social needs.

Proposed projects / schemes should be located within 10 miles of one of our stations or a station that we serve where there is an identified social need. Which outlines how the project will work with the community to mitigate the social need and therefore help to create a more inclusive, prosperous, and connected community.

The maximum amount that can be applied for is £10,000, each application will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis noting successful projects must be completed within the financial year (April to March), in which the funding is gifted.

If you have any questions about a CCIF application, please contact the respective Regional Growth Manager (contact details are listed in the CCIF guide) or through the CCIF inbox community@avantiwestcoast.co.uk

The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 10 January 2025.

Apply now