EKC Ashford College plays key role in 200 years of railway celebrations

EKC Ashford College has played a key role in one part of the town’s year-long celebration of 200 years of passenger railways.

Earlier today (September 26), the young artists behind a new art display inside Ashford International Station unveiled their work to the community.

Alongside the artwork, which includes trains of the past, present, and future, there is also an exhibition on the history of railways, which was put together by local historian Fred Garner.

Today’s event was made possible thanks to key partnerships between EKC Ashford College, local schools in the town, Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre (AIMREC), Cactus Graphics and Southeastern’s Ashford International Station.

Speaking at the event, Jo Brown, Assistant Principal at EKC Ashford College, said: “We were invited to help Ashford International Station celebrate 200 years of railways, and as the station is the heart of our community, I wanted to get all the community involved.

“We worked with Ashford International Model Railway Exhibition Centre to gain knowledge of trains through the years, which helped to educate the young people about the history, and invited class groups to colour in one of the trains from different eras.

“In conjunction with this, we ran a competition to create a train of the future, for which Aria from Great Chart Primary School is the worthy winner.

“This has now all come together to create a wonderful display of artwork from primary and secondary schools across Ashford that can be enjoyed every day by commuters.”

Kyle Miller, who is the Station Manager at Ashford International Station, added that community-led events like these are something to be proud of.

“I’ve worked closely with EKC Ashford College in the past on a previous project surrounding the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, where pieces of work from local schools were displayed in the underpass,” Kyle explained.

“We were very keen to do something in the same vein again to get the local schools involved, get kids involved, and give them something to be proud about, that they can display and show to their friends and family.”

“While it’s been a long road from idea to outcome, and there’s been a lot of red tape to go through, the moment of coming and seeing the kids tearing all the papers down and unveiling the artwork and enjoying the work that they’ve created – it just makes everything worthwhile.

“I couldn’t be more happy with how things have come out today.”

Students, teachers and parents filled the station this morning ahead of the official unveiling ceremony, where the artists ripped papers covering their artwork down to reveal their creations.

Also playing a key role in the celebration was Richard Archer from Cactus Graphics, which is a design and printing business in Dover.

He said: “It’s been the same graphics in the underpass for quite a while, so it’s nice to see them refreshed and see some bright colours and interesting designs.

“It’s been a fantastic day seeing the children from all the local schools tearing the paper down and revealing their great designs.

“It makes me feel very proud, and I’m happy that the future of graphic design is in good hands with these young students.”

Meanwhile, Fred Garner, a member of AIMREC and a local historian, explained that this is not the first time AIMREC has worked with EKC Ashford College, as the College has previously hosted AIMREC’s annual model railway exhibition.

Building on this partnership, Assistant Principal of EKC Ashford College, Jo Brown, reached out to Fred to ask if he could help put together a timeline of railways to complement the artwork the local school students were creating.

“Doing the research was interesting because it enabled me to dive back into both Ashford’s railway history, which goes back to 1842, and then also the history of railways in the UK in general,” Fred said.

“I’m really pleased to see that we’ve got the timeline up, and the way the children have interpreted it with the colouring, and the images that have been chosen, is absolutely fantastic.

“It just shows that if you give children something relatively simple, an image of a train and some colouring pens, you get absolutely fantastic results.”

The exhibition can be viewed in the platform underpass at Ashford International Station.