Thameslink and Great Northern staff spread festive cheer

Thameslink and Great Northern staff spread festive cheer

Staff from across Thameslink and Great Northern have been out and about this week helping to delight local good causes with two different types of donations.

Two charities were nominated by staff to receive a £500 donation each. The good causes were suggested by Thameslink and Great Northern staff in recognition of the local work undertaken to help our communities.

Environment Manager Adrian Hodges presented £500 to Keech Hospice near Luton, to support their ongoing efforts to help support individuals in need.

Adrian said: “One of the Keech Hospice charity shops is on my route to work at Flitwick station and they have a number of stores throughout Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and in Milton Keynes. They provide vital support to children and adults in these areas. Karen Dimmock from the charity was so enthusiastic when I said I had put Keech forward and even more so when they were selected.”

Emma Horobin from St Neots station handed over the £500 donation to members of Huntingdon Mencap. The group were overjoyed and told how the funds would help support them to run a social event next year to support the individuals who attend the centre,

Emma said: “It's wonderful for the company to support local charities. I volunteer with Mencap and they do such wonderful work. A lot of the volunteers will be working on Christmas day and the donation means a lot.”

In addition, staff from across the network came together to collect non-perishable food for the Trussell Trust food banks. As a result of the efforts of our teams we were able to donate almost 1,000 items to local food banks, to be distributed to those in need.

ends

Notes to editors

For more information email press.office@gtrailway.com or call

Southern and Gatwick Express press office: 0203 750 2030

Thameslink and Great Northern press office: 0345 470 0789

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:

Thameslink – Bedford to Brighton, Sutton, Wimbledon and Sevenoaks

Great Northern – London to Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn

Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)

Gatwick Express – Fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn.

Details of the franchise:

22% of all UK passengers

6,500 employees

£1.3bn annual revenue

£237m passenger journeys

£50m investment to enhance all 239 stations

50% increase in capacity

1,398 new train carriages

10,000 additional morning peak seats into London

Free Wi-Fi at 104 stations

20,000 days of customer service training for frontline employees

£1m per year for local communities to spend on improvements at stations

The GTR investment programme for stations includes funding for more CCTV, toilet refurbishments, new retail facilities, help points and car park improvements – as well as plans for increased motorcycle storage and improved transport integration.

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