Ainsdale Village Park gets Green Flag

AINSDALE Village Park awarded the coveted Green Flag Award as it is officially recognised as 1 of the country's best parks

Ainsdale Village Park, on Liverpool Road (A565) in Merseyside, has started to fly yet again the prestigious Green Flag Award after achieving international quality mark for parks and green spaces

The Friends of Ainsdale Village Park is celebrating after receiving a Green Flag Award for Ainsdale Village Park.

The site is one of 2,250 in the UK to achieve the award, which is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

The news that Ainsdale Village Park has met the standards required for the accreditation is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Friends Group and Green Sefton that care for the green space so that visitors and residents alike can enjoy it.

Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said:- "Congratulations to everyone involved in Ainsdale Village Park who have worked tirelessly to ensure that it achieves the high standards required for the Green Flag Award. Quality parks and green spaces like Ainsdale Village Park make the country a heathier place to live and work in, and a stronger place in which to invest. Crucially, Ainsdale Village Park is a vital green space for communities in Southport, Merseyside, to enjoy nature, and during the ongoing cost of living crisis it is a free and safe space for families to socialise. It also provides important opportunities for local people and visitors to reap the physical and mental health benefits of green space."

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

300 Northern stations upgraded to provide customers with the latest information

CUSTOMERS are being provided with clear and up to date information about their journeys at 300 stations run by Northern, after they were upgraded as part of a multi-million pound investment.

More than 700 new customer information screens and 530 public announcement speakers have been installed.

The work has been completed at stations across the North of England, including:- Bentham, Bingley, Hale, Hazel Grove, Mossley Hill, Maryport, Shildon and Sunderland.

The final phase of this 5 year project is now well underway and will be completed by March 2027.

With white LEDs and a high colour contrast, the screens can be seen from a greater distance and are designed to be easier to read for customers, including:- those with visual impairments.

In many cases, the screens are larger than those provided previously. The information is displayed clearly, in a format that is easy to read, so customers are provided with the latest information, including:- departure times and important safety messages.

Alex Hornby, Northern's commercial and customer director, said:- "Customers deserve the best quality of information when making their journey with us, and we are investing millions of pounds to ensure we deliver this. Up-to-date information about our services and clear announcements at our stations are vital. We will continue to listen to customer feedback and make such improvements, so they can enjoy simpler, straight-forward journeys when they're travelling across our network."

It comes as the operator is working to make stations and services across the North of England more accessible, to give everyone the confidence to travel by train.

Northern has installed dozens of Passenger Assistance Points, expanded its mobility scooter scheme to include another eight stations and trialled new priority seating and British Sign Language announcements.

It is currently trialling a programme which allows customers travelling between:- Preston and Colne to scan a QR code and tell conductors they require assistance up until 10 minutes before departure at unstaffed stations.

The operator is also working to deliver a plan to improve performance, ensuring no more than 2% of services are being cancelled by the end of 2027 and 90% are arriving within three minutes of schedule.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.

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