Rail enthusiasts raise ?12,500 for children’s hospice charity
GTR's Chris Fowler and Antony Yandell hand a £12,662 cheque to Ella Pilkington of Chestnut Tree House children's hospice (Image: GTR)
Rail enthusiasts have raised over £25,000 for a children's hospice following a rail tour last month.
Fans of the Southern class 313 unit embarked on a commemorative trip around the county for one last time before the units were sent to scrap last month, raising money for the Chestnut Tree House and the Railway Children, which helps at-risk children.
The money raised was split equally between the two charities, both receiving £12,662.
The Argus: Rail enthusiasts on the tour at Three Bridges
Rail enthusiasts on the tour at Three Bridges (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)
The tour was organised by Southern and the Branch Line Society to mark the retirement of the 47-year old trains, raising money through ticket sales, raffles and an auction of memorobilia and merchandise as it made its way across Sussex on May 1.
The Argus: Enthusiasts taking pictures of the train at Chichester
Enthusiasts taking pictures of the train at Chichester (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)
Chris Fowler, network operations director for GTR and Network Rail, presented the cheque to Ella Pilkington of Chestnut Tree House.
He said: “In the five decades the 313s have been operating, they’ve formed special memories for train crew, passengers, and customers. It’s great that in honouring their service, rail enthusiasts have raised such a magnificent sum for children’s charities.
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“Over the past six years GTR has arranged other farewell tours to mark the withdrawal of our older fleets and with this latest tour now complete, we have raised £75,000 for charity.
"Arranging these tours takes a lot of work and I want to say a huge thanks to Antony Yandell, our Duty Operations Manager, who led the organising team, and everyone who has played a part.”
The Argus: The team working on the rail tour
The team working on the rail tour (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)
The railtour visited Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Brighton, Three Bridges, Ore and Newhaven among other destinations along the coast - raising a total of £25,335.76
Business[1] development executive for Chestnut Tree house Ella Pilkington said: "There are hundreds of children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in our local community who require specialist care, and even more parents and family members who need help and support.
“It is thanks to the kindness and generosity of individuals and companies like Southern and its parent company GTR that Chestnut Tree House can be there for each family on their journey – now and in the future.
"This donation of £12,500 is enough to pay for a full day of all our care services, both at the hospice and out in the community, so really will make a huge difference. On behalf of everyone at Chestnut Tree House, I’d like to say a huge thank you for your support.”
The 313 trains were replaced by more modern class 377 "electrostar" trains, which have air conditioning and toilets - both of which their older counterparts didn't have.
They will also increase capacity on the coastway route to Portsmouth with an additional fourth carriage, said to create a third more space for passengers.
Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink, is currently upgrading all 270 "electrostar" trains in a multi-million pound programme to create charging points, information screens and LED lighting.