National Express East Anglia (NXEA) is supporting the Railway Children charity with a donation following the company’s annual employee survey, where a contribution is made to a charity on behalf of the staff participating in the survey.
Staff who took part in the survey came from across the entire geographic area that NXEA serves, including Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and London.
NXEA staff chose the Railway Children as their nominated charity this year and almost £1,400 was donated by National Express to the charity, as a result of the survey.
The Railway Children exists to help vulnerable children in grave circumstances. Their objective is to provide relief to children and young people who are in conditions of need, hardship or distress and in particular to those living on the streets.
Since its inception in 1995, Railway Children has helped many thousands of children and young people living alone and at risk on the streets, both at home and abroad.
Jonathan Denby National Express East Anglia’s, Head of Corporate Affairs:
“We’re pleased so many employees took the time to fill out the survey, it’s not only a really useful resource which helps us set our priorities over the coming year, but it has also helped the Railway Children, a charity that is close to the hearts of many people who work within the rail industry.”
The Railway Children was founded by stalwart of the British rail industry David Maidment, who when visiting India was approached by a young girl begging outside Mumbai Station.
The encounter inspired David to dedicate the rest of his life to finding ways of helping this girl and the millions like her. In India, millions of children use the trains to run away and railway stations become a natural place to congregate and survive.
David saw a natural link between this cause and his peers in the rail industry and was able to call upon his many friends and contacts to rally a team of dedicated supporters. To this day a large proportion of support for the Railway Children still comes from the rail industry.
David Ellis, Corporate Partnership Manager for the Railway Children said:
“It’s so good to see organisations such as National Express finding new and innovative ways to incorporate support for Railway Children into their own corporate activities.
“We’re incredibly proud to have been chosen by National Express as their nominated charity and it’s fantastic to know that as a result of so many responses to the employee survey, we can help reach even more children who are forced to survive on the streets.”
Terina Keene, Chief Executive of Railway Children says:
“This is such an intuitive way for National Express and their employees help us to protect children from violence, drugs, sexual exploitation and sleeping rough on the streets. We’re so grateful for support such as this and it makes an unimaginable difference to the lives of vulnerable children.”
For more information about the Railway children please log on their website.
