Press release -
Young Netherton footballers attract sponsorship from rail firm
Peterborough’s Netherton United Under 11s football team have a kit sponsor this season - Great Northern, the train operator that runs services from Peterborough, King’s Lynn and Cambridge to London.
Netherton Under 11s play in the Peterborough Youth Alliance League – and have won the league title this season in their new kit. Their manager is Shane Davitt, a Peterborough-based driver instructor for Great Northern. The train operator responded to a request from Steve Cox, another long-serving driver with the company, to help fund the team’s strip.
Shane said: “The boys love the new kit and all of us at Netherton Under 11s can't thank Great Northern enough for their help and support. We’ve been flying high since the new kit arrived, and last week we won the league unbeaten, scoring 67 goals in our eight games and conceding only three. It really helps having a company looking to support children’s sports in the community.”
Stuart Cheshire, Passenger Services Director for Great Northern, which is run by Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “We’re delighted to be associated with Netherton United by helping to buy their new kit, and very proud that the team is winning while wearing the Great Northern logo. This sponsorship is a welcome opportunity for us to support young people in the local community, and it also recognises the great team we have working at and out of our Peterborough depot.”
Ends
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For more information email press.office@gtrailway.com or call
Govia Thameslink (Great Northern) press office: 0203 750 2031
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Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:
Thameslink – services between Bedford and Brighton, Luton/St Albans and Sutton, Wimbledon and Sevenoaks
Great Northern – services between London and 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 the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff. The operator carries about 326 million passenger journeys per year, and employs around 6,500 people. Its aim is to improve services across all four networks.
Ticket revenue is passed to the government, which pays GTR a fee to operate the franchise. The fee is adjusted according to how well the train service is performing.
Southern has the fastest passenger growth in the UK with numbers into London having doubled in 12 years - compared with the industry as a whole doubling over the past 20 years. To meet this growth and to future-proof the network, GTR is modernising the rail service for passengers.
GTR has introduced more new trains in the past year than all other franchises put together, with 500 new carriages so far.
The transformative £7bn Thameslink Programme will bring hundreds more daily services from 2018, increasing the number of trains though the central London core from up to 15 to 24 trains per hour. Network Rail has also launched a £300m programme to improve resilience across the GTR network.
GTR is modernising how it works, with new technology in use at our stations and on our trains, smartcard ticketing and a new, flexible on-board role on many Southern services. This ensures fewer cancellations, and with more staff on board our trains now than ever before, passengers are enjoying a much better level of on-board customer service.
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.
www.southernrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com,www.greatnorthernrail.com
