For several weeks this winter, railway neighbours at Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, Kent, were living near a major construction project as Network Rail and suppliers Balfour Beatty, Seva and others got to grips with a landslip on the line to London.
One of those neighbours was children’s hospice Demelza Kent, part of Demelza Hospice Care for Children. The charity provides end of life care for children and young people at its Bobbing HQ, along with its hospice in South East London and home care service in East Sussex.
The hospice were very understanding of the challenge of repairing the railway and as a “thank you” Network Rail and its suppliers built a new disabled access ramp, worked in the gardens and donated a cheque for £3,500.
Demelza’s operations manager Tim Richards said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve now got a ramp for those children who are wheelchair-bound to directly access the gardens. This is something we’ve wanted to do for a couple of years and it’s not something we’ve been able to put the pennies towards in recent times. To get this opportunity has been absolutely fantastic for us.”
Mary Haisman, senior corporate partnerships executive at Demelza, said: “The money will really help us support more children with serious or terminal conditions across Kent, South East London and East Sussex. We’re not reaching every child we can at the moment – it’s only one in five – so every penny goes such along way in helping us to reach more families. We’re really grateful and we weren’t expecting it at all.”
Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, said: “I’m so grateful for Demelza’s understanding and support of our teams this winter. We had to do a great deal of work at very short notice, with colleagues and machinery all descending on Bobbing, and it meant a lot to have the backing of the hospice. It means even more to be able to help them back.”
Chris Ottley, Operations Director, Balfour Beatty Rail, said: “At Balfour Beatty, we truly care about the communities in which we operate – we want to leave a lasting, positive legacy. It has been a pleasure to work alongside Demelza Hospice Care for Children, helping to improve their outdoor space and facilities.
“We wouldn’t have been able to carry out the works without the support of our valued supply chain partner, Seva Rail, who have worked alongside us to make improvements that will benefit many children and their families for years to come.”
Gregg Smith, Managing Director for Seva Rail, said: “These types of projects are always extremely disruptive to the surrounding communities and even more so to those providing such important resources as Demelza does. We are really pleased and honoured to play our small part in helping support their great work.’’
Network Rail’s major project was sparked by a 40-metre landslip in nearby Newington, in late January. The railway was closed for 15 days while the bank was repaired, and work went on for some weeks afterwards.
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For more information on Demelza Hospice Care for Children, visit: https://www.demelza.org.uk/
