Great Northern and Thameslink's safety programme is a hit with youngsters

Volunteers from Great Northern and Thameslink have delivered talks about safe and independent rail travel to almost 10,000 primary school children over the past six months.

The Go-Learn programme, which sees members of staff give up their time to attend schools and deliver an interactive and thought-provoking session, has received excellent reviews from teachers and pupils alike. The sessions, held across Great Northern and Thameslink routes from Moorgate to Peterborough and Hendon to Bedford, include helping the youngsters understand the dangers of the railway, as well as the different roles of the team involved.

Stuart Cheshire, Passenger Services Director, said: “At the start of the year we set what we thought was an ambitious target of seeing 1,000 students and I've been truly astounded by the take-up from schools across our network. This is a testament to the hard work of my teams and their commitment to encouraging youngsters to think about rail travel as a sustainable mode of transport, whilst also ensuring they understand how to keep themselves and others safe."

Feedback from the classroom sessions has shown the children’s great enjoyment of each part of the workshop. Teachers' comments include:

These sessions add to the Go-Learn educational work undertaken with primary schools in the south of Thameslink’s network, where the programme has been delivered to 3,584 pupils since the start of this year.

Cheshire concluded, "I am really proud of our people's efforts to take the time to organise these sessions and deliver this very important message to so many children. We want everyone who travels with us to stay safe and I'm confident the effort put into this education work will make a real difference to the lives of these youngsters."

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