Brighter Journeys

Railway stations.

To the public they’re often seen as purely functional, designed only for utility. Anonymous and transient. And because of this they’re often a focal point for those suffering from a mental health crisis, with staff and passengers dealing with around 25 incidences a week across the network. Network Rail and the wider rail industry wanted to challenge this perception and, in the run up to World Mental Health Day, use stations to engage passengers in a positive conversation about mental wellbeing.

With this in mind, we launched Brighter Journeys - a campaign to raise the profile of stations as positive community spaces whilst, at the same time, signposting those that might need support to the Hub of Hope – a mental health support app run by Network Rail’s charity partner Chasing the Stigma.

It’s scientifically proven that spending time interacting with nature makes people happier. So, we brought the power of nature into stations across the country, creating multi-sensory installations that featured the sights, sounds and scents of the natural world.

Then we collaborated with The Poetry Project to develop a series of nature-inspired poems that were printed on seeded leaflets for passengers to plant at home and used across stations to surprise people on their journey and help bring a smile to their faces.

The activity was promoted through out of home, social media and a partnership with the Metro newspaper, as well as being captured in a piece of film narrated by spoken-word artist Terrell Lewis.

At the same time Chasing the Stigma founder Jake Mills promoted the campaign across radio and podcasts.

Smaller stations created their own displays, and passengers shared their own messages of support and encouragement through social media.

All this contributed to a 14% increase in those who saw stations as community hubs and happier places.

And 83% of people who saw the campaign said they were more confident in knowing where to seek support for their mental health, with Hub of Hope app downloads increasing by 20% during the campaign period.

Brighter Journeys was so successful that it’s now becoming part of Network Rail’s regular annual ongoing activity for World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Awareness week.

Features and accolades

The campaign featured widely across the media, including a segment on itv news. It was shortlisted at the Purpose Awards and the Marketing Week Awards.