Businesses are being encouraged to rally together and show their support for the vital work of a leading children’s hospice. East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) has launched its Business Circle – a new corporate venture open to companies across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. It will give them a chance to build connections and attend networking events, while at the same time making a financial commitment to EACH. The cost is £1,000 a year, including VAT, and Business Circle membership includes the chance to visit one of the charity’s hospices – The Nook, near Norwich, The Treehouse, in Ipswich, and at Milton, near Cambridge. There will also be opportunities to sponsor events at a discounted rate, in addition to being a host venue for networking functions. “What better time to officially launch our new Business Circle than during Children’s Hospice Week?,” said EACH Corporate Fundraising Manager Caroline Allen. “This national awareness week is so important for everyone here, to raise funds and heighten understanding of our vital work. “We rely on voluntary donations and a key part of our fundraising income comes from corporate friends and supporters. “This is a very special opportunity to cement that commitment, by pledging a certain amount every year – money that will make a tangible difference to the families, children and young people receiving our care and support. “It’s also a golden opportunity for companies to come together and join us at one of our quarterly networking events. “It will give them an opportunity to make new contacts and forge connections with businesses across East Anglia.” Members will also have the benefit of PR opportunities, have exclusive use of the Business Circle logo for internal communications, be featured on EACH’s dedicated Business Circle webpage and be listed in EACH’s Report and Accounts. They will also have the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at networking events, feature in EACH social media posts and receive tailored updates on EACH’s work. “We already have a Giving Circle for Major Doners and Supporters but are now very proud to introduce our Business Circle,” added Caroline. “Those who sign up will be helping us continue our vital work, offering a family-centred, needs-led approach to care and ensuring all the needs of the children and young people we care for are met – whether that be psychological, physical, emotional, social or spiritual.” To read more or sign up, head here. Alternatively, email Caroline via (caroline.allen@each.org.uk), Laura Southcott (Norfolk) via laura.southcott@each.org.uk, Hannah Forbester (Cambridge and West Essex) via hannah.forbester@each.org.uk, Billie Nugent (Suffolk and East Essex) via billie.nugent@each.org.uk or Rachel Mayes-Dally (Suffolk and North Essex) via rachel.mayes-dally@each.org.uk Children’s Hospice Week started on Monday and runs until Sunday (25th June).
Determined walkers defied sweltering conditions to complete a 32-mile trek and raise more than £40,000 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). The charity’s Pier 2 Pier challenge took participants along the stunning Norfolk Coastal Path from Cromer to Great Yarmouth. Eighty-eight people took part – another nine signed up but had to pull out because of injury or illness – and that tally included families who have received support or continue to be supported by EACH. Others represented businesses who were keen to get involved and raise funds. The walkers set off at 7am and the first person to cross the finish line, Lee Hopkins, reached Cromer nearly nine hours later at 3.50pm. The final walkers finished around 8pm. EACH Events Fundraiser Emma Cook said: “It was another fantastic and hugely successful day. “Despite the hot conditions, everyone rose to the challenge and enjoyed the camaraderie of walking together. “There’s always a great sense of spirit during this event and that was certainly evident again, because everyone motivates each other. “We’ve had some very positive feedback from participants saying they felt looked after and supported throughout. “They also commented on the organisation of the event which is lovely to hear. “Our thanks go to everyone who took part for helping us raise such a phenomenal amount of money. “It’s incredible and will go such a long way in terms of helping us continue our vital work.” Among those to take part were bereaved couple Demi Little and Jordan Keys, in addition to Norwich mum Leigh Smith. Georgia Miles and Lisa Ayton also pulled on their walking boots and have a close connection with EACH as their children receive care at The Nook and Milton, in Cambridgeshire, respectively. In addition, there was strong representation from the corporate world, including 27 members of staff from First Home Improvements, who raised more than £10,000. Other colleagues came from Midwich, VM Hosts, Cambridge Electrical Services and Cambridge EV Points, Unite Marketing and Events and Planning Manager Ltd. EACH Help at Home volunteer Marcia Foy was also among those to take on the challenge. “In addition to the walkers, our sincere thanks also go to everyone who made the event possible, including staff and four amazing volunteers,” added Emma. “Many others contributed on the day, including Rapid Relief Team, Glenn Hands, from Evocative Images, Norfolk and Suffolk 4×4 Response and Marett’s Chariots. We’re extremely grateful for their support.” EACH is hosting a Suffolk Pier 2 Pier walk, on 2nd September. The 16-mile coastal walk takes participants from Lowestoft to Southwold. Pictures: Glenn Hands/EACH
“I was referred to the Green Light Trust by Bethanie, Chances Team Leader at Voluntary Norfolk and I can’t thank her enough. I wanted to join the course because I had just turned 24 and had literally not done anything with my life. I remember always feeling anxious from the age of 5 and I hadn’t ever felt comfortable mixing with people in school or college. My anxiety continued to get worse and worse over the years until I hardly left the house leaving me feeling “terrified” of the prospect of ever going outdoors again. I was diagnosed with agoraphobia, panic attacks and long-term anxiety. All the medications I was given just made me feel worse. My stepdad died during lockdown with COVID and I was very close to him so I just stayed at home, isolated, lonely and ended up living inside for four years. I found myself locked in a negative state of mind which kept me indoors and isolated from everything. I didn’t trust anyone at all but being with the staff at the Green Light Trust has changed all that. I think it’s totally changed the way I feel about people and the world too. The staff are amazing you choose what you want to do so there’s no pressure on you. You can just chill out and chat if you want. They are just really caring people who just want you to do well but more importantly be happy. I used to tell myself really negative stories about how the world was and it wasn’t true – there are some really good people in the world who genuinely want to help. I was totally stuck and didn’t go anywhere. The world outside just seemed completely dangerous and untrustworthy, and my life was ruled by fear and staying safe at home. I realise now that you only get support if you ask for help and the course has been an amazingly positive experience for me. I only joined the course 7 weeks ago and have just enrolled in an allotment project in King’s Lynn. I also went to a Women Only support group last week. The course at Green Light Trust has inspired me to try these new things – it is exciting. Once I took the first step, I wanted to get out there and try other new things. After telling myself for years I can’t do stuff and being locked in the house with my mental illness I now say “I can do this” The feelings I thought were anxiety I’ve now re-labelled as “excitement” this helps me get out of the house if I start feeling the way I used to feel. Being out in nature has been so healing for me – and you don’t get that stuck inside the house! I now tell myself “I am ready” and I really feel I am. I am looking at working in a nursery (plants) or I’m also thinking about doing a Horticulture Apprenticeship. The staff at the Green Light Trust have supported me with this too. If you are thinking about doing a course – do it. You may not think you are ready, but I think you are! Everyone is ready to do something positive with their lives you just need to take the first small step. I’m already booked onto the next course which starts in August and I can’t believe my life has changed so much.
Anna Cislo at Norwich Crown Point depot (credit: Greater Anglia) Greater Anglia is shining a light on a vital behind-the-scenes role as it celebrates International Women in Engineering Day. The day promotes the work of women engineers across the globe along with encouraging more to study and work within the profession. Greater Anglia today highlights the work of Anna Cislo who is based at Norwich’s Crown Point depot. Anna, who is from Hungary, joined the engineering team in 2022 as a yard assistant and spends her time moving trains at slow speed within the depot so they are ready for passenger service, coupling trains together to form longer services and ensuring safe movement of trains around the depot while they are undergoing maintenance and servicing. She also refuels the trains and checks and refills their sand – which is used to help trains grip when braking in slippery conditions. These tasks all involve clear and concise communication where there is no room for misunderstanding, with safety being a top priority at all times. Anna was inspired to join the engineering team after working as a security officer at the site gate. “I enjoyed fixing stuff with my dad as a kid. When I saw two of my female colleagues, operations support manager Helen Dickerson and yard assistant Elwira Ciszewska, it inspired me to give it a go,” Anna said. “Working on a depot can be challenging, especially on nights where the work is time sensitive to make sure we get the trains out in time for the morning service. But as a team we work hard and support each other. “People on the depot are very friendly and helpful: no one is here to see you fail.” While engineering is a male-dominated industry, Greater Anglia has a well-developed diversity and inclusion strategy, one strand of which is increasing the number of women in the workplace. Anna and the team are eager to see more women apply for roles. “Greater Anglia is very supportive, there are lots of options and directions you can progress in. You can push your boundaries and see what you’re capable of,” she said. “It’s important to give everyone an opportunity and make it more equal: Helen and Elwira inspired me to join, so I want to do the same to other women too.” Martin Beable, Greater Anglia’s engineering director, said: “We have huge talent within our organisation and it’s great to celebrate Anna and the vital work she does on International Women in Engineering Day. “We have a wide variety of roles within the team, from the engineering and operational through to administration. If you’ve got the right attitude and experience, we’d love to see you applying for roles when they appear.” All available roles are advertised on Greater Anglia’s website, where you can also sign up to job alerts: www.greateranglia.co.uk/careers
As a veteran combat helicopter pilot, with more that 20 years’ experience in the RAF, Sarah Furness speaks with a certain amount of authority on the subject of ‘uncertainty’, and how courage creates opportunity. The uncertainty of what to do when your aircraft strikes a high-tension wire in flight is not a challenge most of us will experience, but there are lessons to be learnt in the way we face the unexpected in our day-to-day working lives. Following up on the theme for the year of “Future Proofing Your Business”, at Larking Gowen’s Summer Business Breakfast, former Squadron Leader, Sarah, explained how her training and experience led her to understand that embracing uncertainty is an important step towards confidence and self-belief. “It’s important to remember you can’t eradicate uncertainty, but you can start to use it. Do something that scares you, and you can train yourself to handle uncertainty. If you do that, you’ll start to build your self-belief,” she said, at the event at Milsoms Kesgrave Hall, near Ipswich, this week. Uncertainty often represents opportunity, and with self-belief you can take advantage of these opportunities. She highlighted the importance for business leaders to create a culture of self-belief, saying this could only be done by allowing people to make mistakes in a supportive atmosphere. Leaders must show they are not afraid to admit their own mistakes and set the example by ‘going first’ and sharing their mistakes despite it feeling uncomfortable. “Being good at what you do isn’t about being faultless. It’s about recognising your mistakes and growing from them. This takes courage, and like fear, courage is contagious,” she said. After graduating from Cambridge University, Sarah joined the RAF in 2000 at the age of 21 with the ambition of becoming a jet fighter pilot, inspired she says, by the Tom Cruise film classic, Top Gun. Not quite making the grade, she opted for the next best thing, a combat helicopter pilot flying Pumas. Her career saw her experience tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and she has the accolade of being the first female helicopter pilot to fly an active special forces mission. She left the RAF in 2021 to pursue her interests in mindfulness and wellbeing as a professional coach, and has written a bestselling book Fly Higher. Speaking after the event, Larking Gowen Partner, Graham Mummery, said, “We’re extremely grateful to Sarah for such an interesting and inspiring presentation. We’ve had incredible feedback. Thanks to everyone who attended our Business Breakfast, and we look forward to seeing you at our Autumn event.” You can find out more about Sarah’s work by visiting her website here.
Mark is inspired this week by a TEDx talk which leads him to reflect on one of his favourite topics – evolution, tribes and what makes humans tick. It’s a tough question to ask yourself, but are you creating a cult or a culture? Mark and Becky discuss where the idea of culture comes from and what it really means for businesses. “Cult leaders see greatness in themselves”, whereas, if you operate as a culture, you see greatness in the team. They also discuss the impact the CEO/owner has on a culture and why active engagement is important. They consider the negative connotation behind the term ‘HR’ and why, perhaps, this no longer fits the modern world… GET IN TOUCH! We would love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode, email us at podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk. We would also love it if you could rate us 5 STARS on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, this really helps people find us! You can also now watch us on YouTube! Click hereShow notes Corporate Anthropologist, Michael Henderson – TEDx Michael Henderson websiteJocko Willink – Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and WinJim Collins – Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’tThe three secrets of resilient people – Lucy Hone – TEDxListen here!
Maximum grant size: £10,000 Deadline: 2nd August 2023 Grant overview: The Fund provides capital grants to community organisations in the rural areas of the Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. Projects should have the overarching objective of providing resilient community services and assets for local people to benefit the local economy, address the challenges of rural isolation, support social cohesion and boost local pride. There will be 2 years of funding. Available Funding:
In year 1 (2023/24) there is a total of £75,000 available and capital grants of up to £10,000 can be awarded. Match funding of 25% is required and must be confirmed at the time of application. Match funding can be in the form of an in-kind contribution, for example volunteer time contributed towards building improvements. You can apply for a year 1 grant now.
In year 2 (2024/25) there is a total of £225,000 available and capital grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 can be awarded. Again 25% match funding is required and must be confirmed at the time of application. Please note, while you are welcome to begin planning a project for year 2, you cannot make an application at this time. We expect to launch the year 2 application process in early 2024.
Fund details:Year 1Year 2Aim: Support impactful volunteering and social action projects by the purchase of equipment or improvements (not maintenance) to premises. Aim: Capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups through larger scale capital improvement (not maintenance) projects such as climate resilient infrastructure which can adapt to changing external factors, net zero infrastructure, grants for community catering kitchens etc. Objective: Enable communities to build upon local provision and benefit from well serviced and resilient facilities which meet local need now and into the future. Objective: Initiatives which create, improve and future proof community facilities, green spaces and local infrastructure. Vision: Investment will be targeted to improve local pride, support the wellbeing of rural communities, improve connectivity between areas, reduce social isolation and improve access to services and facilities. Projects should provide opportunities to increase social integration and engage residents in volunteering activities. Vision: Investment will benefit projects which reduce carbon emissions, work towards net zero targets, create resilient infrastructure and establish local green infrastructure projects in line with the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. Projects which incorporate this approach into the improvement or creation of community facilities that benefit the rural community and the wider environment and increase opportunities for local groups to operate and further invest back into the area will be prioritised. Grant Exclusions:
Revenue/activity costs.
Purchasing assets which do not have a lasting value (1 year minimum).
Purchasing/repairing play equipment, outdoor gym equipment or similar items.
Purchasing benches, picnic tables or similar outdoor items
Bus shelters.
Footpaths/trods/waymarking or similar items.
Non-electric vehicles.
Projects that still need to raise additional funding at the time of application.
Projects that require planning (or other permissions) but these permissions are not in place at point of application.
Projects that have received funding from other DEFRA schemes e.g. The Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Fund.
Who can apply? The Fund is open to charities, community groups, parish or town councils, churches for projects that benefit the wider community, CIC’s and other social enterprises, scout and similar uniformed groups and sports clubs. Schools cannot apply.
Last updated: 6th June 2023 at 12:11pm On 10 May 2023, the Department for Business and Trade published a policy paper, “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy.” The paper contained details that propose amendments to several areas of UK Employment law that will impact on your business, if made into law. This blog explores the potential impact that these changes may have on your business Its important to note that, at present, these remain as proposals and are not embedded in law- you should keep doing everything as usual for now. Working Time Regulations 1998 The proposals set out several amendments to the Working Time Regulations, reducing the administrative burden on employers by: Removing record-keeping requirements: Removing case law that imposes time-consuming requirements for businesses to maintain working hour records, you’ll no longer need to keep logs of hours worked by each employee. Permitting rolled-up holiday pay: The proposal re-introduces the practice of rolled-up holiday pay, so that workers can receive their holiday pay with every payslip. This is particularly relevant for seasonal, casual or temporary workers, who usually do not need to take holiday and therefore may receive a rolled up payment instead. Merging basic and additional statutory leave: Merging the current two separate leave entitlements into one pot of statutory annual leave, while maintaining the same amount of statutory leave entitlement overall. The current system separates the 4 weeks and 1.6 weeks entitlement as they come from two systems; this will merge to two, providing a total statutory allowance of 5.6 weeks. TUPE: Transfers of business ownership or services The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations protect employees when the business or organisation for which they work transfers to a new owner, it may also apply when a service transfers to a new provider. TUPE regulations provide important protections for employees and provide a legal framework for transfers of staff, the proposals seek to simplify this process for small and medium sized businesses up to 50 employees and for small TUPE transfers. Currently, businesses cannot consult employees directly where they do not have employee representatives in place, instead, they must elect employee representatives. The proposal is to remove the requirement to consult with elected employee representations for:
Rethinking sepsis training, a new approach designed with care and support staff in mind.The impact of sepsis Sepsis is a serious health concern, and it impacts millions worldwide. In the UK 5 people die from sepsis every hour! This critical illness is an outcome of an infection that triggers an intense immune reaction in the body. If not rapidly managed, sepsis can result in organ failure and ultimately death. The often subtle and insidious nature of sepsis highlights the necessity of prompt detection and immediate medical intervention. Timely and decisive response is crucial to ensure people receive appropriate care without delay. Why did we start this in the first place? Both of us have spent many years working in healthcare. I am a paramedic and Neil Fossett is an experienced emergency medical technician (EMT). We have seen the devastating effects of sepsis first hand. We noticed a gap in training that was provided to front line ambulance and hospital staff and that which is provided to care and support staff. We are all taught about sepsis, the use of tools to enable us to quantify illness and how to escalate care appropriately. Care staff build fantastic relationships with their service users and thus know them incredibly well. Their instincts are often finely tuned and they’re able to spot when an individual may be unwell or need medical attention. However, we found upon speaking to them that it was difficult to quantify and communicate this to GP’s, Nurses and Paramedics. In short, the anecdotes suggested that they felt that they were not taken seriously enough. The NEWS2 scoring system was implemented in 2012 and has since been in use nationally. All ambulance trusts, and hospital trusts use it as it has been found to significantly increase the likelihood of spotting clinical deterioration early. Early enough to be able to implement treatment with a higher likelihood of survival. We wondered why this additional information and toolkit was never expanded out into the health and social care sector. In these settings, where vulnerable individuals are cared for and supported by staff, who really know them well, and are in a great position to be able to spot the subtle signs of illness and sepsis very early. This sepsis training aims to change this disparity and provide these additional tools to the health and social care sector. It aims to empower care staff by enabling them to quantify and communicate illness severity and give them confidence and help to protect our society’s most vulnerable individuals. The development of the course We spent a lot of time researching the most up to date information on sepsis to see if there was any other training like this currently available. We couldn’t find any training that included the use of the NEWS2 scoring system as well as the teaching of taking vital signs that was aimed at care and support staff. Most sepsis training was found to be in the form of e learning packages and barely skimmed the edges of sepsis and deterioration. We wanted to go deeper than this and provide face to face training for staff that included the use of taking vital signs and using the NEWS2 scoring system. Whilst e learning certainly has its place in the learning and development arena, there are some things that just can’t be portrayed well enough via screen time. And we felt that this was one of those subjects. Throughout our research we also found that there are approximately 1.5 million paid carers in the UK. This is a huge number! Imagine the good this course could do if we could reach every one of them with this course?! We spent a lot of time constructing the course and wanted to have an emphasis on storytelling and providing a safe space for others to be able to share their stories if they felt able to. Sepsis is so prevalent that we have yet not come into contact with anyone who has not had some experience with it, be that personally or via a friend or family member. We don’t do death by PowerPoint at NR Medical Training and instead focus on making our courses relaxed and conversational. We don’t see it as a time for us to preach to others, things we know, and they may not. It’s more about sharing knowledge and giving others the space to be able to do the same. We take our roles as trainers very seriously and want others to be able to feel confident and comfortable to ask questions to clarify things, or to share their own experiences. Once we felt confident that we had solid course content, we decided to start to get the word out about the new course. We decided initially to run the course free of charge to all care and support organisations. This would enable us to have proof of concept and get some feedback. It was slow to get going at first – I think a lot of people felt there was a catch as it was free! Once the word began to get out via our social media channels, website and tireless calling round and email sending, we began to gain some traction. We had overwhelmingly positive feedback and homes were implementing the new tools and skills they had learnt from the course. We keep in contact with these homes and ask for case studies as to how they have found using them. We have now had the absolute pleasure of working in collaboration with The UK Sepsis Trust. Following meetings and discussions, they have now co-authored and fully endorsed this course. This means that we can expand our reach even further and get this course out to as many care and support staff as is possible. We would like in particular to thank Dr Ron Daniels BEM, the CEO of The UK Sepsis Trust, Melissa Mead MBE, the partnerships co-ordinator, and Beth Kirkbride the marketing and communications lead. These guys have been so supportive, and it’s a pleasure working with them to get this off the ground. Now due to the demand, and soon to be nationwide coverage we are unable to continue offering this for free. Instead, to aim to keep this as accessible as possible we are running it on a not-for-profit basis. Why is this course so important? We feel, like many others, that care and support staff can often be taken for granted. They often seem to fall under the radar and become hidden from view. The work and dedication of this group of people is absolutely amazing and should be viewed as such by everyone. It’s not a job just anyone can do. I started my career in health and social care and speak from experience when I say it’s not an easy task. It can be difficult, frustrating, and upsetting at times. However, the rewards are second to none. Supporting a dementia patient to carry out a task and seeing them smile, supporting a young person with learning disabilities to bake cakes and you can see the proud smile on their face afterward, or supporting a person with difficult and enduring mental health problems to be able to accomplish something the never thought they were able to. These are the reasons any of us go into caring and supporting roles. To help and support others. Why these positions are not celebrated more I will never know. However, these individuals are amazing people and should have all the tools available to them to make sure they can do their job as effectively as possible, whilst keeping the individual being cared for at the centre of it all. I’ve lost count the number of times I have heard this phrase – “I’m just a carer”. This upsets me deeply. There is no “just” about it. Why is this so prevalent? Perhaps a topic for its whole own blog! I have many thoughts on this and will go into this at another time. However, what we want to do, is to be able to delete this phrase from everyone altogether! We want to empower care and support staff. Be able to give them the confidence and tools they need to succeed in spotting illness early, and ultimately being able to do the best for the people they care for. We hope this course will achieve this and more. We hope it will drive down complications and deaths as a result of sepsis. We want to make it as accessible as possible to everyone who can benefit from it. Who will benefit from this? Ultimately, the people being cared for who are often the most vulnerable groups in our society will benefit from this the most and that is our first aim. Secondly, those caring for these groups will also benefit. They will be empowered, have more confidence and be able to do their job to the absolute best of their abilities. In addition to this, those receiving the training will also know what to look out for in their own friends and families. Finally, as we are running this course not for profit, a percentage of every course booked will go directly to The UK Sepsis Trust charity. This will enable them to continue the amazing work they do. Where is it now? We first went live with the backing of The UK Sepsis Trust on Wednesday 14th June 2023. We’ve already had more enquiries and would love to see even more. We aim to initially roll this out regionally, and then nationally. We have a bank of trainers, all of whom are healthcare professionals. We are essentially an army of paramedics, EMTs, emergency department nurses, and military medics. In time this group will expand to enable us to cover as far and wide as is possible. With support from The UK Sepsis Trust, we aim to get more coverage and make as many care and support organisations aware of this training as is possible. Where would we like it to be and why? We would like to see this course implemented nationwide. 1.5 million care staff in the UK is a huge number. It will take time, determination, and a lot of hard work for us to reach everyone, but we are determined to do so! Looking forward to the future, we feel this course would make an excellent addition to mandatory training packages for care and support staff, just as BLS and manual handling is. If we could get this into colleges and schools that would also be fantastic. Particularly for those young people who are considering a career in healthcare. Ultimately, we feel this course stands to benefit others, particularly those most vulnerable groups. And that is why we started this in the very beginning. Here’s to grit, determination and the courage to think outside the box and do something different!
Above: A water refill point. Credit: Greater Anglia Over 500,000 water bottles have now been refilled for free on the Greater Anglia network, helping save plastic waste from polluting landfill and oceans. Greater Anglia has invested £65,000 in installing water refill points at 22 of its stations to give Greater Anglia passengers access to free water, helping to keep them hydrated while travelling, and reducing the amount of single use plastic that ends up in landfill or in the ocean. Water dispensers are installed at Billericay, Bishops Stortford, Broxbourne, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Chelmsford, Cheshunt, Colchester, Ely, Great Yarmouth, Harlow Town, Hertford East, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Marks Tey, Norwich, Wickford, Witham, Rochford, Shenfield, Tottenham Hale and Waltham Cross stations And to celebrate National Refill Day, which takes place on June 16, the train operator is reminding passengers to carry a re-usable water bottle while travelling. Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s Asset Management Director, said: “We’re very pleased to support National Refill Day, which encourages people to save the planet by refilling a reusable water bottle rather than buying single-use plastic. “We hope that by providing free water, it will help makes passengers’ journeys a little easier and help reduce the number of plastic bottles that are thrown away. “We care about the environment, so we are delivering a number of projects to improve our energy-efficiency and operate in a more sustainable manner – from installing LED lighting, to recycling food, to providing free electric car charging points.” In 2019, Greater Anglia became one of the first train operators in England to offer free water to passengers as part of a drive to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles.
Members of the Greater Anglia and Campaign for Better Transport teams showed support at Southend Victoria. Credit: Greater Anglia Greater Anglia is proud to partner with the charity Campaign for Better Transport as part of Better Transport Week and support the brilliant ‘Love Your Station’ initiative devised by the charity. The week is a national celebration of sustainable transport and aims to promote the wide range of benefits of public transport, shared mobility, walking and cycling to the public and encourage more people to travel sustainably. Rail is already recognised as being the most environmentally friendly form of transport apart from walking or cycling, and Greater Anglia is leading the way in creating an attractive, clean and green network. All Greater Anglia services are now operated by new, high quality, higher capacity, more comfortable, more reliable, more accessible and more energy-efficient trains, including bi-mode trains for regional routes where services need to switch between diesel and electric power en-route. These new trains have already helped the company deliver record-breaking performance and secure extensive positive feedback from customers and stakeholders. The train operator has also been working to minimise its carbon emissions and become an even more sustainable organisation. As well as introducing more energy-efficient trains, since 2019, Greater Anglia has cut waste, increased recycling and worked with partners and communities on projects to improve sustainability, such as the Station Adoption scheme. The train company, which serves six counties, has more than 300 volunteer station adopters on its network to help keep stations looking their best, tending to flowerbeds, station gardens and keeping things vibrant and welcoming for passengers and local wildlife alike. The scheme recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary since its inception. Silviya Barrett, Director of Policy and Research at Campaign for Better Transport, and Southend resident, said: “As we mark the charity’s 50th anniversary, we are launching the first-ever Better Transport Week to shine a light on all the wonderful local transport options we have. I am delighted to celebrate this important week with Greater Anglia and their teams, including the brilliant Southend Victoria station staff. “As one of the greenest ways to travel, rail plays a vital role in reducing carbon emissions and traffic on our roads, contributing to our economy and connecting communities. Let’s all show our local stations some love!” Greater Anglia is one of more than 80 organisations supporting Better Transport Week, including the Department for Transport, local authorities, the transport industry, NGOs, businesses, and passenger groups. Jonathan Denby, Greater Anglia’s Head of Corporate Affairs, said: “At Greater Anglia, we are pleased to be supporting Better Transport Week because rail travel is a great way to get around. “With brand new trains on all our services right across our network, we are playing our part in making sustainable transport more attractive. “By promoting train travel and supporting further investment in wider improvements to the rail network, we can ensure rail contributes fully to greener transport choices, in support of our national climate change goals.” Greater Anglia is also delighted to support the fantastic ‘Love Your Station’ initiative, a programme that encourages customers to share the love of their local stations as part of Better Transport Week – with the chance of winning a £100 voucher. The train operator has also recently launched its latest Hare Fares promotional fares offer, providing great value travel options across its network for tickets bought before 27 June, for travel before 7 August. Details on what to do and how to enter can be found on the Campaign for Better Transport charity website.