FOUNDATION SUPPORTS LEEDS STATION SAFETY WEEK

FOUNDATION SUPPORTS LEEDS STATION SAFETY WEEK

Bailey Peacock-Farrell visits Leeds Railway Station.

Leeds United star Bailey Peacock-Farrell helped to support Leeds Station Safety Week on Thursday alongside the Club’s official charity, Leeds United Foundation.

A week-long programme of activities has taken place at the city centre railway station, teaching children from over 15 local schools the best ways to stay safe on the railway, in line with Network Rail, British Transport Police and Virgin Trains East Coast.

Whites goalkeeper Peacock-Farrell was on hand to meet coaches from Leeds United Foundation on Thursday morning to join in on some of the activities they have been running with the youngsters such as an arts and crafts session and games focused around health and safety on the railway.

Yosuke Ideguchi

The Northern Ireland international spoke to LUTV following the visit and said: “It’s been great coming down to the city centre today and meeting all of the children, getting involved in the activities and being able to see first-hand the care going into keeping young people around Leeds safe.

“Initiatives like this are great for bringing people together in the local community and it was also brilliant to see the Foundation getting involved and lending their support.”

The 300 children that have visited the railway station have also been treated to tours of the facilities, had the chance to use a driver training simulator, visit a British Transport Police riot van and meet a police dog during their trips.

All of the activities that have taken place have highlighted the dangers of playing and trespassing on the railway and educated the young people on how to stay as safe as possible at railway stations.

Yosuke Ideguchi

Leeds United Foundation Development Manager, Gary Waddington, said: “We were really pleased to be involved in supporting Leeds Station Safety Week once again and to see so many local schools involved has been fantastic.

"Keeping young people safe is so important and although a lot of the work the Foundation does is centered around football and developing skills we also need to keep in mind the importance of teaching them valuable lessons that will keep them safe and help with their development for the future."

Vicki Beadle, Community Safety Manager at Network Rail, added: “This week is a great way to engage with children from an early age and explain how dangerous it is to play on or near the railway.

“We hope that the children have enjoyed taking part in the activities and, more importantly, go away understanding how important it is to stay safe when using the railway and give them the tools they need to be able to do this.”

Configure video
X