The Leeds United Foundation interacted with over 200 children from across West Yorkshire as part of the annual Leeds Station Safety Week with a special appearance from Adam Forshaw at one of the workshops.
The activities, for nine to eleven-year olds, were delivered by Network Rail, Northern and British Transport Police along with coaches from the Leeds United Foundation from Monday 21st October through to Thursday 24th October.
The interactive sessions took place with 15 different schools from the local area and involved fun games and competitions with a focus on teaching the children about safety issues when using the station, being on a train or near the railway.
The young people were given information about how to prevent accidents by not running or riding bikes, scooters or skateboards in the station, as well as how to stay safe when using the escalators. Pupils were also taught how dangerous it is to trespass on the tracks, particularly in areas with overhead line equipment, which can carry up to 25,000 volts and would have devastating and life changing consequences for anyone coming into contact with it.
Vicki Beadle, Operations Risk Advisor for Network Rail, said: “Safety is Network Rail’s priority and we wanted to put on fun activities for children, whilst raising awareness of the dangers of messing about on or near the railway.
“Throughout Leeds Station Safety Week, the children learnt about many aspects of railway safety, ranging from the risks around running in stations to the dangers of trespassing near the track or overhead lines. Even about the impact unsafe behaviour can have on the train drivers.
“We run the events each year and it was great to see so many pupils from schools across Leeds getting involved.”
Alan Scorfield the CEO for Leeds United Foundation, added: "The coaches from the club's official charity had a great week working with so many different children at Leeds Station during their safety week and a big thank you to Adam Forshaw for coming along to support the work that was being delivered.
"It is so important for young people to feel safe when they are in a railway station or near a track and that they understand the dangers that are involved.
"Working together with Network Rail and British Transport Police is really important in ensuring the right messages are being delivered to the children and making their visits to the station over the last week as interactive as possible was key in keeping them all focused and engaged."
