Caren Alderwick

Said the following about Gareth Turnbull:

“Gareth had spent some previous years working in suicide prevention, drug and support counselling within his community up in the Northeast. He explained about the stress related to the role and how he had felt burnt out and in need of a change of work-life balance.

So began his journey... quickly it became apparent to me this gentleman will need some support on this new journey. He was reflective sometimes daily, often weekly on the amount of work he had to undertake and understand.

It was quite early into the course when we spoke about his learning style that he hadn't really mentioned he had a particular learning difficulty under what we could call the dyslexic umbrella.

We talked openly about the challenges this had caused him, especially with new learning. His honesty, reflection, and self-awareness were excellent.

Gareth is a very engaging quick witted person.. He quickly became a popular team player... But maintained the little bit of INDIVIDUALSIM!

Like many of his peers, Gareth had his wife and quite a young family up in Newcastle, it's never an easy balance.

As the course ramped up so did Gareth, though he was more confident now and would just need to look up for a few extra seconds while working to ensure he understood the topic we might be covering. Such an individual he recognised perhaps others were waiting at times for him.

It's really towards the end of the course that things sadly changed. He came back to Derby and informed us that his brother-in-law had been involved in a serious accident, and his wife was distraught. This was the week of our traction week and sign off nearly the end of his journey. We explained that family is so important and that he should go home, and we'll sort the rest out later.

Understanding his journey individually had been at times challenging he kept in close contact with home. We decided to allow him to carry on if it helped him deal with the stress around.

Sadly, a few days later his wife's brother lost his fight for life after his severe injuries and passed away. A few weeks later we welcomed Gareth back to the school to complete the remainder of the course. The impact of the last few weeks had taken its toll, but Gareth was determined to get back on the horse and complete his journey.

None of us can completely understand the stress and anxiety Gareth his wife and children and wider family have been through. I am pleased to have seen Gareth a couple of times recently and delighted to see Gareth getting on with life again in a very positive way with a real smile on his face.

Seeing Gareth now at the end of his training journey is why we do our job!

Gareth's learning was defined earlier as needing some support to maximise his opportunities to achieve this in his new job. I needn't have worried... Gareth has made a seamless transition into his new role and is now working on trains.

It gives me a warm feeling to know that despite life throwing up a challenging situation, Gareth is the excellent person we saw right at the very beginning of the course all those months ago. No longer quiet, no longer nervous, or new... a new professional with all those previous technical and non-technical skills re-attuned to XC.

Delivering safe journeys to our customers, delivering a great customer experience. After all he knows all about adversity, both professionally and personally.

That is what makes Gareth Turnbull an absolute INDIVIDUAL.... Congratulations Gareth for your growth, for being an excellent person, new employee and colleague.“