The RailStaff Awards 2024

Stuart Meek

Govia Thameslink Railway

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Polly McGillivray

Said the following about Stuart Meek:

“With a need for open recognition of our LGBT+ employees within our organisation, a GTR LGBT+ Group was established in early 2019 and quickly grew in members and allies. The Group planned and designed a parade float and iconic ‘Trainbow” to mark the UK’s largest Pride celebrations, Brighton & Hove Pride, for the first time.

Served by Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink, Brighton station is a key location on GTR’s rail network – and is one of the largest stations by passenger numbers – so there is a real focus on celebrating as part of the local community. The Group created a safe space and recognition for the LGBT+ staff in GTR and brought people closer together from all over the Network, celebrating the fact that, ‘Our People Bring Out Our Best Colours.’

As well as marching in the parade, the group won approval from the GTR board to design a train to support LGBT+ colleagues across the business, as well as our passengers. The ‘Trainbow’ was designed by group member and design apprentice, Maggie Luckhurst, and will stay on the special Thameslink train (unit 700155) to bring joy to staff and customers, alike, serving as a constant reminder of the support and work toward a more diverse workforce at GTR.

While beginning with small numbers, the power of Social Media (i.e. the internal Yammer network) the LGBT+ group, led by Train Services Director Stuart Meek – who also led the Pride weekend operational plan - grew quickly to become a force to be reckoned with. LGBT+ employees and Allies could discuss issues that may be affecting them in the workplace in safe space, which soon led to a programme of social events, creating a sense of community growing within the Company.

As GTR serves Brighton Station which holds one of the Biggest Pride Events in the UK calendar the Group agreed we should collectively do something in the Parade. This meant securing support from the business and – crucially – securing the budget to allow us to plan and deliver GTR’s first Pride float at Brighton & Hove Pride 2019. The entirety of the float was organised, designed and physically decorated by the GTR LGBT+ Group. It was a uniting accomplishment that certainly bought a lot of Pride across the company and allowed our LGBT+ employees feel truly represented. Brighton Station hung Rainbow flags and staff wore LGBT+ Group designed T-Shirts and lanyards saying ‘Our people bring out our best colours’ – exactly the feeling that this new group has helped so many members shout about.

We also launched our glorious ‘Trainbow’ – a rainbow-adorned Thameslink train – two weeks before the event, bringing people into Brighton with its painted splash of rainbow along the sides bringing smiles to staff and passengers, alike. A great selfie opportunity for those coming to the city to celebrate Pride but also representing company support for our still-growing LGBT+ group. It still proudly runs on our network with no plans to remove it showing the support really remains beyond just a single weekend of celebrations. The float and apparent unique stance GTR were taking with representing its LGBT+ employees created extensive media interest and with positive feedback from passengers, all keen to snap a picture of the ‘Trainbow.’

The weekend itself required extensive operational planning, but due to the enthusiasm of the group, this became a project that people were really keen to get involved with – helping to deliver the service for an event on this scale was exciting! Further expanding on the operational need to ensure the smooth running of the event, the Brighton station team planned a comprehensive colour-coded – or rainbow – queuing system that was advertised across social media, at the station and through a video with Southern and Gatwick Express Managing Director, Angie Doll, at the Pride festival event in Preston Park.

To further involve colleagues across the business, internal channels were used to share updates and invite participation. Internal updates on the float, calls for feedback on t-shirt designs, Pride event competitions were all shared in newsletters and on the Yammer channel to create excitement, as well as ensuring that employees across the business could play their part.

Work around Brighton & Hove Pride allowed us to forge closer ties with local organisations – as the key transport provider for the 300,000 attendees of the event, we had to work closely with our council and emergency service counterparts to ensure safe delivery, as well as the organisers of Pride. This allowed us to maximise the media and social media impact with authentic support – showing staff and customers alike that this was so much more than a marketing campaign or a ‘nice to do’ – it had real meaning and impact.

Positively leading from this, GTR has also embarked on a new relationship with LGBT+ organisation Stonewall which will support our aims and education moving forward. The Group is still going strong with regular meet ups – and, of course, planning will soon commence for Brighton & Hove Pride 2020.“