A COMMUNITY group restoring a disused station has received a profile boost from a York photographer who was crowned the winner of a competition.

Joanne Coates, 24, a social documentary photographer, entered the competition run by Skipton Building Society as part of its 160th anniversary celebrations, and beat almost 100 other hopefuls to first place.

As part of the Skipton Building Society Big 160 Grassroots Giving Initiative, 160 funding pots of £500 were given to 160 community groups across the UK, after being voted for by the public to win.

Once the winning groups had been voted for, Skipton launched the competition to showcase local photographers’ talents, by asking them to photograph the winning community groups in their area.

Ms Coates photographed The Aysgarth Station Group based in Wensleydale, and York-based Greenfields Community Garden.

She said: “It was such an inspiration to be involved in the project.

“It’s a really good cause and it’s really interesting to see the diverse range of community groups. It was an amazing opportunity to work with the volunteers of the groups and to see the hard work and dedication they put in to make their local community a better place.”