Mark Green

Said the following about Esther Burns - **HAS LEFT**:

“On the 9th February this year a woman came to the Travel Centre and was trying to get the sleeper to London. Something didn't seem right and the woman was very agitated. Esther's intuition was that this woman was running away from something. She began to talk about suicide and Esther immediately took action. She asked the woman to come into the first class lounge and have a cup of tea and calm down. She got progressively worse so Esther brought the woman into my office out of the way. Esther got the woman to open up and discuss her problems. She told us her name and she explained how she hadn't seen her children for a long time and recently tried to get in touch and was rejected. This tipped her over the edge and she just couldn't cope. Esther reassured the lady and got her to provide a number for her support worker and her brother. By this time I was on the scene and we both chatted with her. We spoke about the BTP and how they keep the rail network safe and it would maybe be a good idea if they popped in for a chat. She welcomed this and when they did we ascertained that she would benefit from some medical care. Her brother came to her and then an ambulance took her to hospital. A couple of weeks later she came back to the Travel Centre with a gift for Esther. Esther said she looked 20 years younger!

This was a fantastic intervention from Esther. She remained calm, compassionate and caring throughout. She thoroughly deserves this award!“