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Friday 17 Jun 2005

PHOTOCALL: SALFORD REDS ADD THEIR SUPPORT TO NO MESSIN

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Date:               Tuesday, June 21 2005 Time:              10:00am Location:        The Y-Club, Castlefield Hotel, Manchester Journalists and photographers are invited to attend a wrestling demonstration with members of the Salford Reds Rugby League Club and representatives from the British Wrestling Association and NACRO. Richard Barker, spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We are extremely pleased that the Salford Reds and are pledging their support to our No Messin’ campaign by attending today’s event. “The Reds have a huge following in the Manchester area, especially amongst young people and we believe they can make a real difference by promoting safety messages to youngsters themselves.” The demonstration is part of Network Rail’s No Messin’ campaign, which aims to reduce the number of railway crime incidents by offering local young people an alternative to playing on or near the railway. The event also marks the start of a new partnership with the sports development wing of NACRO, a registered charity who run projects to steer young people away from crime and anti-social behaviour by offering them something positive to do with their spare time. The rail industry aims to raise awareness and ensure railway crime is seen as more than just ticket fiddling and that trespass on the railway is often a pre-cursor to more sinister activity. Some railway crime offences are so serious they have the potential to cause a major train derailment, which would inevitably involve fatalities. The consequences for causing an accident are severe and can be as much as a life sentence in prison. Mr Barker added: “Unfortunately we have real problems with incidents of trespass and vandalism in Clifton and other parts of Manchester, like Gorton, Patricroft and Eccles. “Our statistics show trespass incidents are consistently falling as a result of our efforts to educate youngsters on the dangers of playing on the railway and we are extremely grateful to NACRO for showing their support to our campaign.”