Community Rail Lancashire is delighted that the Avanti West Coast Feel Good Field Trip project has been shortlisted for the Spotlight Rail Awards.
Up on Gummer’s How
The two-year campaign builds on the Avanti Schools Programme, which aspires to connect young people from a range of diverse socio-economic backgrounds to opportunities across the route and follows the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw school trips paused.
Coordinated by Community Rail Lancashire Community Rail Officer Dave Savage and funded by the train operator, the Feel Good Field Trips programme has already seen more than 2000 children take part in 90 excursions by train.
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- A Feel Good Field Trip on Catbells – Sunday 10th December
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- The 200th Student Celebrations
The scheme has opened up travel opportunities that may otherwise have proved unaffordable at a time of severely constrained school budgets and has received warm reviews from both staff and pupils. Many of the participating pupils attend schools in disadvantaged areas and have never been on a train before.
There will be a webinar held for each category on 24th January. The awards event itself is 21st March 2024 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. The webinars are not part of the judging for the award, but an opportunity to showcase what we are doing/ have done and talk more about the entry to the audience.
The webinars are attended by others in the rail industry invited through the Spotlight Rail Awards marketing, social media and contacts. Last year each attracted approximately 150 people, but as this is the second year more are expected.
To see the full shortlist click the link here: https://spotlightrailawards.com/sra-2024-shortlist/
