South Western Railway (SWR) is investing in a rail safety project in partnership with UK Youth, a leading charity with the vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives.
The project will educate young people aged 11–25-years-old on the risks of trespassing, vandalism and level crossing misuse in an attempt to improve the safety of all customers.
Held at Avon Tyrrell – UK Youth’s leading outdoor learning venue, dedicated to the continuous development of young people – the course will be run across winter and spring 2022. Young people attending the course will participate in activities and workshops that raise their awareness of rail safety.
SWR has committed a total of £40,000 to the project, which forms part of its ongoing commitment to support and improve the communities across its network via its Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
Veronika Krcalova, CCIF Manager at South Western Railway, commented: “We are always looking for new ways to improve railway safety and support the communities that our network serves. Our partnership with UK Youth is a great opportunity to engage with younger customers and educate them on the operations and risks of a railway. In turn, we hope that it will improve both the safety of those participating in the course, as well as other customers.”
David Watts, Director of Outdoor Learning, UK Youth, said: “UK Youth is very grateful to South Western Railway for this funding, which will enable us to use outdoor learning as a powerful tool to educate young people on the risks associated with railways. Following the additional challenges Covid-19 has sadly brought for young people over the past 18 months, providing young people with opportunities such as this that utilise outdoor learning and physical activity to deliver vital life skills, and support good citizenship, have never been more important.”
UK Youth have a strong reputation for delivering high quality, large scale, national skills development programmes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. For more information, please visit https://www.ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes/.
For more information on SWR’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund please visit: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/about-us/community-and-rail-station-adoption/customer-and-communities-improvement-fund.
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