Scouts have reached 300,000 young people with their rail safety education and activities in the last two years and more than 35,000 safety badges have been earned by their young members.
The partnership with the rail industry is to ensure young people know how to stay safe when travelling on or around the railway and can encourage their local communities to do the same.
John Ryan, railway worker who is a Scout Adult Volunteer, said: “The ready-made resources available on the website are really helpful for busy volunteers. The resource contains the five key elements of rail safety presented in fun, simple games and programme ideas.
“This also provides a great opportunity for Young Leaders aged 14-18 years old; to deliver in a simple way helping them to achieve their own goals and develop skills for life.”
Louise McNally, Network Rail’s suicide and trespass prevention lead, said: “Beavers, Cubs and Scouts are leading the way when it comes to being safe and educating others on how to be safe around the railway. Our work is part of a wider strategy to reach the groups we know we need to reach and it is doing work in this regard.
“We start the safety messaging from a young age so that the safety knowledge is embedded before they could become potential trespassers and we reinforce that message as they grow older.
“Our safety messaging is also delivered in schools (we have reached more than 15 million children and youths since 2019) and we also run campaigns across social media and other channels to cover all bases.”
As part of spreading the message, British Transport Police (BTP) attended the Scouts’ Reunion event which took place at Gilwell Park in East London, with virtual reality equipment. The event was established to mark the first Wood Badge course in 1919, with the reunion running every year since 1921 (except for four years during the Second World War) as an opportunity for adults in Scouting to experience an active, educational weekend.
Louise added: “The Scout leaders took part in some rail trespass prevention VR experiences which place them in highly dangerous positions on the tracks during serious trespass incidents and also with BTP when they have to visit loved ones after such incidents.
Louise added: “It is very powerful stuff, but obviously all researched and tested to ensure we’re not traumatising anyone. The team also handed out our Stay Safe with Thomas books for the leaders of the younger groups which were very popular.”
Among those who attended the season, one Scout and Explorer leader said: “We spoke to the BTP at Reunion and used their VR headsets. It was a very powerful session. It would definitely have an impact on Scouts and Explorers and promote a second thought.”
Resources in relation to railway safety are available here.
Photo credit: Matthew Woolley
