Award-winning Falmouth products, branded deckchairs, films and shanty song filled Birmingham New Street railway station last week.
The Falmouth Town Team secured an important opportunity to showcase Falmouth to thousands of rail passengers as part of the annual, UK-wide Community Rail in the City initiative.
Working with the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and Cross Country, Falmouth was given a prominent location on the busy main station concourse at New Street – the station receives 160,000 passengers daily – and the Town Team worked with many Falmouth and Cornish partners to ensure the town, with everything it has to offer as a place to visit and do business in, was profiled as imaginatively as possible.
The Falmouth Town Team – the partnership between Falmouth BID and Falmouth Town Council – was joined by others who gave up time to help the Falmouth cause; Abby Keverne from the Greenbank Hotel and Richard Burningham and Rebecca Catterall from the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.
The thousands of visitors to the Falmouth-claimed patch of Birmingham, were not only treated to songs and stories from two shanty groups, but also had the opportunity to wait for their trains in comfort – thanks to Falmouth-branded colourful deckchairs and artificial grass that had been laid out – and watch Falmouth videos on a large screen.
Falmouth BID manager, Richard Wilcox, said: “What a fantastic and productive day! We engaged with thousands of people, many of whom had an affinity with Cornwall and Falmouth, and wanted to find out more about visiting. I am really pleased that relationships fostered over several years with the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, ACoRP and this year Cross Country, has enabled us to promote Falmouth in such an innovative way.”
