East Sussex Community Wellbeing Fund has provided £2,500 of match funding
Friends of Bishopstone Station community hub
Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Aim
The long-term plan is to restore our unique 1930s Grade 2 listed station building back to its Art Deco glory and create a community hub.
Who are we
Friends of Bishopstone Station was formed in 2017. We officially adopted the station in conjunction with Southeast Communities Rail Partnership.
Meet the team
We have eight core members with a formal constitution.
Barbara Mine (chair) is from a sales and marketing background within the motor trade and Jim Stanford (vice chair) has a career in nursing.
Station history
Bishopstone Station is on the Seaford to Brighton line and was designed by architect James Robb Scott. He was the chief architect of the Southern Railway and was also responsible for the design of the Victory Arch at Waterloo station.
Bishopstone was built in 1938 to accommodate a new housing estate.
The housing was shelved when World War 2 started and the unique Art Deco Station was used for military purposes. Brick gun emplacements were added. This is the only station building in the UK with gun turrets.
Later in the 1970s the parcels office was used as a general store and newsagents. Since the closure of the store around 2015 it has lain empty.
There is great interest in our project from the local community. We have held several Open Days which have been supported by hundreds of people who are keen to know more about the station and our plans to restore it.
Our long-term vision
Our aim is to create a community room for a variety of uses. Planning permission and listed building consent has been granted.
Phase 1 is to raise funds to renovate the rundown former general store which was part of the old railway parcels office. We want to turn this area into a much-needed space to be used by various community groups who are desperate for a venue.
The money raised will pay for a new kitchen area, plumbing, electrics and appliances, hot water facility, broadband and USB ports, new foyer doorway and access for disabled people and those with mobility issues plus a new multi purpose unisex toilet.
Current fundraising
The room is being basically refurbished by the current train operator with limited funds. We need to raise the money to be able to make the room useable with a kitchen and create a toilet for when the room is in use.
We have found all sorts of rubbish - and some useful items - in the abandoned store.
Your help needed
The work is costly and our fundraising events from quizzes, book sales and auctions have brought in some money - but not enough to pay for all the work needed to make the space fit for community use.
That's why we have created this Crowdfunder to appeal to the wider world to help us.
Media attention
If the name "Bishopstone” seems familiar to you, then it may be because you have seen us on TV or read about us in print or online.
Railway historian Tim Dunn visited us in December 2020 to film for an episode of his programme 'The Architecture The Railways Built' on Yesterday TV.
The programme was broadcast in October 2021 providing much-needed publicity for our project.
We have also featured in the Sussex press and on local radio.
Please help us by contributing to our fundraising.
Thank you on behalf of everyone at the Friends of Bishopstone Station.
This project successfully funded on 3rd March 2022