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team is aiming to walk 1213 miles in June to match the longest route currently diagrammed by an Avanti West Coast Class Pendolino in service on the West Coast to raise money for the work of Railway Mission, who provide a team of chaplains to help support staff in the rail industry. Railway chaplains have been in increased demand as the challenge of emerging from the lockdown and the pandemic begins to hit home, and with a significant part of Railway Mission’s funding coming from voluntary donations, the team hopes to help provide additional funding through sponsoring supporters. The team of five will walk, between them, 1213 miles, matching the distance of a train leaving Wembley and travelling to Euston, north to Glasgow, back to London, and returning to Glasgow, before finishing there at Polmadie depot. The walkers are all current or recent members of the railway family,
including Mike Roberts, who works as the railway chaplain for the North West, covering the West Coast Line between Stafford and the Scottish Borders.
The team: Debbie Francis: Non-executive director, chair, counsellor, coach and mentor, previously Managing Director of Direct Rail Services. National Rail Awards judge. Natasha Hanson: A HR Specialist most recently at DRS, and a judge in the National Rail Awards. Bessie Matthews: A former Greater Anglia conductor and now trainee train driver. Mike Roberts: Railway Mission chaplain for the North West of England and North Wales. Heather Waugh: a train driver, formerly with ScotRail and now with Freightliner in Southern Scotland, and a mental health campaigner and advocate.
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