Andy Harrowell

Said the following about Antony Yandell:

“During the course of a month Antony went above and beyond the call of duty to organise a farewell tour for our Class 442 units for the public, raising more than £13,000 for Govia Thameslink Railway's corporate charities in the process.

In his role as Train Services Manager, Antony recognised the opportunity to offer members of the public a chance to say goodbye to the long serving Gatwick Express units, ahead of them completing more than 40 years of service.

With just a four week window to arrange this trip and coordinate various logistical elements - including the creation of a day-long journey plan with a “behind the scenes” look into various depots and locations on our network - which were offered out before retiring the long-serving units.

This was a huge undertaking, requiring work by people inside and outside the company, to provide more than 400 passengers with this one-off opportunity.

From the early stages of planning Antony was committed to ensuring that any money raised by the tour went to our corporate charities, also working with colleagues to organize raffles and auctions on-board the service.

A lot of the work to organise the trip was undertaken in Antony’s own time, taking over his days off, which often meant neglecting his fiancée and missing out on personal commitments.

However, through his focus and perseverance, Antony’s efforts raised £13,336.04 to be split between GTR's charities, Embrace and Keech Hospice. To quantify the impact of this donation, that figure is three times the amount that the two good causes had received from other staff efforts up to that point, making this is truly a staggering donation which the charities never would have received without Antony’s efforts.

Antony not only provided a fascinating experience to those who joined the tour, but raised a truly amazing amount to support two very good causes on our network.

Annette Ackland, Embrace Trustee, said: "Thank you so much to Antony. The money will make such a difference to us. This can help us run our Saturday club for the next year. We've recently seen our numbers of children on the rise and need more staff. This will help so much. We can't thank him enough!"

Caron Hooper, Corporate Fundraiser at Keech Hospice, added: “We are overwhelmed by this generosity and support. The money we have received will really make a difference to the adults and children who are supported by Keech Hospice. This money will help go towards helping us make sure no-one has to face a terminal or life-limiting illness alone.”“