The RailStaff Awards 2024

Keith Gibbs

Said the following about Euston Christmas Lunch:

“In the summer of 2017, four members of Network Rail approached St Mungo’s and Streets Kitchen charities to see whether it was possible to collaborate in order to use the space at Euston Station – which would have been otherwise idle – for a great cause, on a day where most support otherwise available for people who are homeless is closed or limited.

All parties involved wanted to:

1) Host a memorable Christmas Day lunch for homeless people.

2) Work with local communities, businesses and stakeholders to create a safe and inclusive event.

3) Maximise assets available to them (Euston train station and volunteer goodwill) and show the impact using that space could have.

4) Develop lasting relationships to build a legacy for future events and culture to support vulnerable people within society.

The project was unprecedented: no-one had ever tried to undertake such a massive event at a managed station on a day when it is usually closed to the public. A core team was established which worked together to project manage the components of the event, including the lack of budget, risks and operations to make the dream a reality. From this initial scoping, a detailed project plan was developed and communicated with all relevant teams. These started ten weeks before the event when weekly conference calls were held, which then increased to daily calls in the week leading up to the event.

The project involved new thinking and approaches for many components of the event. We had to consider diverse issues such as how to prepare food in a closed station with no access to kitchens, and how to create a banquet atmosphere in an empty station hours after commuters had left on the last train. All of this on Christmas Day – arguably the hardest day of the year to get anything done and the most challenging day of the year to make things happen. For instance, to enable the event to run, we needed lots of volunteers but getting them to Euston without public transport was a difficulty we had to plan for to overcome. We worked with HS2 and their security teams to secure parking locations for the volunteers.

At the heart of everything were the guests – their experience and safety remained everyone’s priority throughout and the Team worked hard in the planning to ensure three things:

1) The safety of the guests

2) Balancing all of the risks and the focus of the media to ensure that the event is a major celebration for people who are used to being disappointed and let down by life.

3) Make it look enjoyable and easy, to encourage a wider debate on what else is possible.

The main project team of four who initiated the idea only did so in summer 2017. This left very little time to organise something so large and far-reaching. Having to plan for so many different aspects – catering, entertainment, security, volunteers, transport, government, social and media reactions (to name just a few) – presented a significant time challenge which the collective team (all of whom had “day jobs”) worked hard to overcome.

This project demonstrated exceptional team spirit across more than 50 groups external to Network Rail covering charities, government departments, communities and companies including St Mungo’s, Streets Kitchen, train operators, suppliers, DFT, Council members from across London, Business Groups, Pret, ColasRail, Leon, Joy, UK parking control, High Speed 2, Church’s, Schools, Local Restaurants, Salvation Army, Goldman Sachs, BBC, Sky and StreetVet. A lot of the groups were there at the early stages but as the event grew many were welcomed into the planning in the later stages - this brought challenges, but as these all brought fresh thinking and ideas, involvement was always encouraged.

Internally there was also huge collaboration, the planning for the event required people from nearly every section within Network Rail to contribute to the overall event. Colleagues from communications, insurance, asset protection, property, customer relations, infrastructure projects, operations and maintenance, the LNW Route and every area of the Exec – to name but a few – bought into the event at an early stage, and were crucial in its success.

Initially, the station manager for Euston was nervous about the idea. He foresaw many risks, and it took time and effort to persuade him that it could be done and would be worthwhile. Ultimately, he became one of the greatest proponents for the Christmas Lunch (which was just as well, as there is no way we could have done it without him!). He has since talked about the positive impact this has had on the spirit of his team, a team who were vital to the success of the day.

Changing people’s, and organisations’, thinking – and their behaviours – was a massive challenge for us. However, we quickly realised that it was only through developing relationships and teamwork that we would guarantee a spectacular day.

The event demonstrated that the Railway is an industry that companies want to work with as the variety, involvement and contributions from outside Network Rail was remarkable. We received a small department store worth of donations (products and services) from external companies. These ranged from sleeping bags and gloves, to food and drink to 500 party poppers and turbo balloons.

The team got creative and packed the day full of entertainment including Sky the magician who performed card and illusion magic for the guests, we had a choir singing as people arrived to accompany their welcome mince pies, and during the main meal had a carol concert around the piano. The tables were also set for a party (all arranged through donations), with glitter, plates, cups, crackers, and bright red flowers. We are set up an area outside for StreetVet to look after and treat any four legged guests.

The event encouraged the fresh thinking in the wider community, we received handmade cards from a local primary school to give out – 200 individually made cards for each and every guest, individually made by children in the local school. This was a touching moment as the event was encouraging local children to talk and discuss the feelings around homeless people. For our beneficiaries, this act supported an amazing and treasured day. For most, this event was the only invitation they had received for Christmas and had a very positive impact on them.

We used local NR teams to support the transport of all the ingredients. Virgin Trains and M&S gave us access to local fridges to store the food. The local Euston church opened up overnight from Christmas eve into the morning to keep the food warm and then our volunteers helped the street kitchens team to bring the food into the station in to the tested equipment ready for serving. Following the event any leftovers were transferred to the local food bank for onward distribution.

The fresh thinking has not ended with the event. We are determined to ensure that the Christmas lunch will leave a lasting legacy. In particular, we want to bring the issue of vulnerable people further up the Network Rail agenda – so that we can provide support to others within the business who have an idea to utilise our assets (physical and people) to support those less fortunate. To lead this the core members of the team are in discussions with the charity commission of Network Rail and separately the Rail Delivery Group to help revise and refresh the thinking on how the wider industry can help local communities to make a real difference.

The most important benefit was for the guests on the day. We had excellent feedback from a large number of those who attended.

We have received many stories of how the event impacted our guests. For example, a colleague met a gentleman at Birmingham New Street in early January who stated that he loved the fact that railway staff were doing this type of event and that the meal on Christmas Day at Euston had helped him turn his life around. He explained that up until that point he had been homeless and had not had a chance to speak to anybody or think about what he was going to do. He took that opportunity and decided that he was going to become a volunteer himself and start to help others who for whatever reason had ended up in the same position as him. There are many other similar heart-warming stories we have heard from lots of people since Christmas.

The coverage from the event went viral and global, and due to the careful planning the event was probably the biggest positive news story that the UK Rail Industry has ever seen. At the event we had Brazilian media (as the station manager spoke Portuguese), BBC radio and TV, Sky, Channel 4 and ITV, following the event there were 241 media pieces published. The world was watching the positive work and approach that the UK rail industry was doing to support local communities with coverage of the event captured seen Europe, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Canada, to name a few.

In the areas immediately surrounding Euston, there has been a 5% reduction in assaults, providing those who travel on the railway with a safer environment when coming to or going from the station.

The event has increased the respect for the station and its staff, low level Anti-Social Behaviour has fallen and retail theft has fallen to a three year low from an average of 10 per month to just 5 in February (3 of these by the same offender on the same day).

The value that #EustonChristmas generated on the day was huge for the guests of the event and the way the event was held is now impacting on the wider understanding of value that the rail industry can bring to the UK’s local communities as a whole. The core team is now working with the Rail Delivery Group and the charities panel in NR to review and consider what wider value the rail industry can bring by working across local and national organisational boundaries.

"The Euston Christmas Lunch initiative showcased the railway family at its very best - local teams working together to deliver for the community they serve. This inspiring event has prompted us at the RDG to work with our members to look at how the industry might do more to support local station teams in community-based projects.” Jonathan Chatfield - RDG Head of Stations Policy“

Muhammad Khan

Said the following about Euston Christmas Lunch:

“Under Joe Hendry and other Network Rail management’s supervision Euston station hosted first ever event of ‘feed the homeless’ on Christmas day. The advantage was taken for closed station and with the help of partner charities, this event made headline news in Europe and other continents. Social media had thousands of positive hits for this event.

The Network Rail team working on that day, away from families and with needy, deserves best charitable team of the year award.“

Angela Clark

Said the following about Euston Christmas Lunch:

“I would like to nominate the Euston Lunch team.

This event came to light to me when it was televised on TV on Christmas Day. What sprung to mind at the time was how wonderful such a heartfelt initiative was brought to fruition and showcased. It highlighted the goodwill and working relationship of the railway staff in how they came together, alongside with various outside parties in making a real difference by giving a memorable day to all those homeless people.

This is such an inspiring event which I hope will continue for years to come. A real good factor story for the railway and such a positive vibe for the community. Well done.“