The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Train Driver of the Year

Colin Lawson

Said the following about Adrian Bayne - **HAS LEFT**:

“Adrian Bayne is a Train Driver for Virgin Trains East Coast and is based at Edinburgh Waverley Station. Over the last few years Adrian has shown a strong interest in helping others, first volunteering to be a community champion and then a wellbeing warrior. It is in this role he had helped develop peoples’ awareness on mental health issues and the issues related to that. He volunteered, and encouraged others to attend a Managing Suicidal Contacts awareness course run by the Samaritans and within three months of attending this course he was required to use the “invaluable” skills he learned on the course when he came across a young man in need of emotional support.

Adrian writes:

“Whilst I was at the station, I came across a young lad sitting in an area that people don't normally sit as it’s hidden away. Looking at him I knew straight away he was in a bad way.

“When I spoke to him I realised he was in a bad place mentally, too. I sat for over 15 minutes talking to him and just trying to engage him in conversation as much as he was willing to. Through our conversation I found out that he should have been in a different part of the country and his mother was supposed to have picked him up.

“I managed to get him to give me his mobile phone so I could call his mother and I immediately saw messages that took our conversation from a casual chat to a suicide intervention. I spoke with his mother - who was in bits - and put her mind at ease. I got someone to call the British Transport Police.

“All he kept saying was thank you and I'm sorry. When the police arrived I was able to hand them his phone and make sure they had the full facts about the situation.

“I can only hope that he is now on a path to getting the help he needs. Recently I did a suicide intervention course through Samaritans, and this training proved vital in this situation.

“The training also made me think about it being more useful than I first thought for the driving grade. Initially I wasn't thinking of a driver being in this very situation but just goes to show how wrong I was.

“It could have been quite easy for me just to walk past this guy and I dread to think what may have happened had I not stopped and talked with him. Giving somebody the time of day can make the difference.”

I believe Adrian should be nominated for this award not only for this specific incident but for his continuing overall proactive approach to enhance other peoples’ awareness to mental health issues not only in the workplace but in the wider community. He does this by taking the lead and, as demonstrated, dealing directly with situations.“