One of Blackburn BID’s priority themes is ‘Making Blackburn town centre cleaner, greener and more sustainable’, and this includes working in partnership with The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside to deliver the RHS award-winning Growing Places project – supporting charities, community groups, primary schools, volunteers and BID members to carry out planting and maintenance in the town centre.
In 2023 Blackburn BID adopted Blackburn Train Station as part of the Growing Places project in order to make environmental improvements and make it a more attractive, welcoming place. Blackburn Train Station is a key gateway to the town centre, with 1.3m visitors using it every year.
There are 14 planters at Blackburn Train Station, 2 of which were custom made and installed by The Making Rooms at the entrance to the station, and the vast majority of the plants included in the project are edible (herbs), so that station visitors can pick and enjoy Blackburn community grown food at work or at home.
In 2024 the hard work of the community organisations and volunteers involved in the Train Station adoption was rewarded with an RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood Award Level 5 – Outstanding.
Downloadable Recipes
To download any of the recipes associated to the herbs you can find at the station, select from the extensive list below.
