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Wednesday 5 Mar 2014

Taking it to the kids at Leeds railway station

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32 Leeds based primary school kids to ‘Tackle Track Safety’ with Network Rail as part of Leeds United Foundation programme

As part of the Leeds United Foundation’s ‘Taking it to the Kids’ programme Tuesday 4^th March will see 16 students a-piece from Beeston Primary School and Middleton Primary School visit Leeds Railway Station to take part in a ‘Tackling Track Safety’ event.

Made possible through the unique working relationship between the Leeds United Foundation and ‘Taking it to the Kids’ programme partner Network Rail, the Leeds youngsters will enjoy a tour of the station with Helen Dawson, Station Manager and Vicki Beadle, Community Safety Manager before sitting down to a ‘Tackling Track Safety’ seminar from British Transport Police.

Leeds United Foundation Football Development Officer Gary Waddington, who heads up the ‘Taking it to the Kids’ programme, commented: “We’re absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to send some of our kids along to an event such as this one at Leeds Railway Station. It’s important to us at the Leeds United Foundation that programmes such as ‘Taking it to the Kids’ not only encourage kids to become more active and improve their football but that we also teach them valuable life lessons that will stand them in good stead for whatever their futures may hold.”

Leeds United Foundation C.E.O. Mick Ferguson added: “A big thanks must go to Vicki Beadle and her team at Network Rail for making this event possible and for all the good work they do on ‘Taking it to the Kids’. The number of people travelling on trains in the UK has doubled since 1995 to around 1.5 billion people a year and with Leeds Railway Station now the third busiest station outside of London with just over 25 million people using it each year, I can’t think of a better place for these kids to learn all about rail travel and track safety.”

Targeting every five to eleven year old in Leeds and headed by the Leeds United Foundation Coaching Team, the Taking it to the Kids programme will visit 242 Leeds based primary schools by the end of this academic year and is run in conjunction with Leeds United, Leeds City Council, Child Friendly Leeds and Network Rail with Leeds United Foundation coaches delivering free six week courses ranging in topics from football technique to healthy eating and rail line safety.

Helen Dawson, Leeds Station Manager for Network Rail said: “As the nights get lighter and the weather improves an unfortunate side effect is always an increase in people risking their lives by trespassing on the railway.

“Leeds station is a known hotspot for people running across the tracks between platforms and also trespassing on the lines outside the station.

“Partnerships like this one with Leeds United are a brilliant way of getting the safety message across without lecturing children. We don’t want anyone hurt or killed on our railway so our message is simple, please stay off the tracks.”