Southern Rail
Your Station, Your Community Improvement Fund (YSYC Fund)
Grants available for: non-profit groups
Size of grants given: £10,000
Next deadline: midnight on Tuesday 9th December 2025
Aims of Fund
The YSYC fund will support causes that are of key importance to ourselves and local communities on our network. The Fund aims to build lasting social value; under the following key themes: mental health, employability skills amongst marginalised groups, diversity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and improving station environments.
Who can apply
We welcome applications from registered charities, Community of Interest Companies (CICs), Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs); community groups and other not-for-profit organisations such as community rail partnerships, schools & colleges, Business improvement districts, town councils and parish councils.
How much and what can you apply for
Up to £10,000. To apply for funds up to £50,000, but this must be done
Funding will need to be spent in full, and projects completed within the financial year (April 26 to March 27)
How to apply
More information and the application form via this web page.
More information
Our priority subject areas
The subject areas YSYC supports, are those challenges and issues that are important to, and impact our local communities and the railway. You must clearly demonstrate your engagement and impact in only one primary area; you may also wish to indicate other areas where your project would have a secondary or complimentary impact.
The areas are:
Enhancing our stations to be a welcoming environment
The key themes in this area are:
- Regenerating redundant station spaces for community use; providing space for activities that enrich the local community and bring the station estate back into use.
- Creating a welcoming environment for our stations and enhancing our customers’ experience – engaging with socially excluded groups and/or addressing issues such as anti social behaviour; hate crime; violence and intimidation against women and girls and engaging with young people on their experience of the use of the railway. We want to see projects that have wider social impact; creating activities, observances or other visual cues that let minority or underrepresented groups know that they are welcome and their particular needs/experiences have been considered.
Positive mental health
Mental health activities that encourage:
- Working with local partners to signpost and/or refer people to support services or initiatives that have a positive impact on people’s well-being.
- Connecting people together to take positive action to prevent suicide, an issue that has devastating and far-reaching impact on people, customers and communities.
- Using the wider station environment to communicate positive mental health messaging, to both customers and colleagues: that positive mental health is something we can all support and work towards, that ‘it’s okay not to be okay’, and that help is always available.
Diversity and inclusion
Our ambition is to create an inclusive culture where customers and colleagues feel able to be themselves and feel they belong to, and can add value to, their local communities.
Support for community projects that:
- Create opportunities for groups that are often socially and/or economically excluded – in particular looking at digital exclusion and addressing anti social behaviour; hate crime and violence and intimidation against women and girls within those groups
- Build on the strengths and knowledge already existing in the communities we serve;
- Facilitate spaces or events where parts of communities that are often separated can come together, building relationships, and learn from/support each other for everyone’s benefit.
Employability and confidence building
Schemes that promote employability and education, in economically and/or socially excluded groups, by:
- Investing in skills development for now and the future
- Working with socially and economically excluded groups to develop social enterprise within those communities, particularly work that emphasises the sustainable economy.
- Working with young people to create positive opportunities and addressing such issues as Anti-Social Behaviour.
Environmental sustainability
Supporting environmental projects that address the climate crisis through:
- Programmes that help in reducing emissions and/or increase recycling, helping us get us to a carbon-zero future
- Conserving and restoring natural spaces – with a particular focus on the use of water and on the development of pollinator friendly planting
- Encouraging sustainable mobility shift to encourage customers to make greener choices to travel by rail and getting to our stations sustainably – by bike, bus, foot or electric car.
Funding will need to be spent in full, and projects completed within the financial year (April 26 to March 27).
For further information on what we are looking for in an application, and the criteria please see our application guide.
If you have any questions about a YSYC application or would like to submit a bid for more than £10,000 then please contact [email protected]. Please note we will not accept bids over £10,000 that have not been discussed with the community team prior to submission.
Deadlines for application
Midnight on Tuesday 9th December 2025
Contact details
If you would like to contact us to discuss your scheme, or for support completing your application, please email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.Last updated: 21/10/25 AC