As part of a new child bullying prevention campaign First Capital Connect last week introduced Carrie Herbert, Chief Executive of Cambridge based charity Red Balloon, to its revenue protection managers to discuss recognising acts of bullying on FCC services.
Carrie started her presentation by introducing Red Balloon and asking each member of the group to discuss any forms of child bullying they’d witnessed on train services whilst undertaking their duties.
The team were then briefed on how to recognise children who were being bullied and how to handle bullies if observed first hand.
Red Balloon was established in 1996 when Carrie Herbert, working as an educational consultant, repeatedly noticed how bullied children were avoiding school and consequently missing out on an education.
As a result Carrie opened up her house in Cambridge City Centre as a school to help these children begin their recovery programme and continue their education in a safe environment.
In 2003 the charity moved from Carrie’s house to a permanent location in Warkworth Terrace, Cambridge, and have since opened several more schools across the country, including Norwich, North West London, and Merseyside.
Neal Lawson, FCC’s Managing Director, said:
“I find bullying completely unacceptable so I would like to thank Carrie for taking the time to talk to our revenue protection managers so they can help stamp it out.
“They will now pass on what they have learnt to their teams and will be keeping an eye out for any acts of bullying occurring on our trains and stations.”
Speaking after the talk Carrie Herbert said:
“First Capital Connect has always been a friend of Red Balloon and I am very impressed with their latest bullying prevention campaign.
“Bullying doesn’t just take place in schools but also on the way to and from. Unfortunately teachers can’t be everywhere at once so we need people like FCC’s revenue protection inspectors to keep an eye out.”
