Thursday 31 Jul 2008
NO MESSIN' IN COVENTRY
- Region & Route:
Calling all Midlands contenders! So you reckon you've got skills? Well it's time to prove it!
Network Rail is bringing its summer No Messin' Live! tour to town - and they're looking for young people with the bottle to try something new - whether it's climbing, boxing, urban dance, or trying out your DJ-ing skills on top kit.
All activities are free and open to anyone aged between 9 and 16 years, from noon to 4pm at Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry on 6 and 7 August 2008.
The award winning No Messin' campaign is run by Network Rail and is aimed at tackling crime and saving lives on the railway. It gives young people the opportunity to try something different and maybe find a new interest - away from messing around on or near railway lines.
Network Rail has identified over 1000 incidents of railway crime in the West Midlands in 2007. During peak periods a railway crime is committed every 90 seconds with around 60 people losing their lives each year from taking short cuts or mucking around on the railway.
Activities at No Messin’ Coventry include:
- Urban/Street Dance
- Football and American Football
- Basketball
- Motorbikes
- Kick boxing machine
- In-line skating
- Football freestyling
- Wrestling
- Boxing
- DJ-ing
- Climbing wall
- Drama production
- Prizes including Nintendo wii, ipod shuffle and a Nintendo ds lite and much more
MEDIA INVITE
You are welcome to attend the Coventry event at any time during the two days; however spokespeople will be available on Wednesday 6 August between 12.30 and 2pm.
IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND EITHER PLEASE CONTACT RACHEL BLACKMAN AT NETWORK RAIL BY TUESDAY 5 AUGUST.
Notes to editors
Crimes committed on the railway include: Trespass Stone throwing Putting object on the line Graffiti Theft. Dozens of people are killed or seriously injured on the railway every year by mucking about on the tracks. In the past year more than 1000 incidents of trespass or vandalism have been recorded on the railway in the Midlands. The worst ten affected areas are listed below: Top 5 hotspots in the West Midlands: 1. Coventry 2. Willenhall 3. Birmingham New Street 4. Bloxwich 5. Coseley National Top 10 Hotspots 1. Leeds 2. Coventry 3. Willenhall 4. Edinburgh Waverley 5. Darlington 6. Newton (Scotland) 7. Swindon 8. Weston-super-Mare 9. Moston 10. Castleford No Messin' this year won the prestigious Business in the Community BUPA Healthy Communities Award. Network Rail has a team of ten rail crime education managers that work across the UK in conjunction with a range of community agencies and organisations including youth offending services; independent community, sports and youth groups; British Transport Police and local police; train operating companies, premiership and football league clubs, and schools to try and prevent crime by spreading awareness of the dangers of trespass on the railway and the consequences of vandalism and other crimes. It also works with these groups to encourage and involve young people in healthier and more purposeful activities including sports, music art and dance.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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