Darius Everden

Said the following about West of England Guard Managers:

“The West of England team had a lot to deal with over the past 12 months, supporting their teams throughout, and showing their superb leadership styles. They spent a lot of time with their teams, explaining the reasons for last-minute changes, supporting those changes, making sure that they were available, and going above and beyond the call of duty so our guards felt that they always had a point of contact. During the extreme heat in summer

2022, which involved a partial closure of the line between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids, they led our guards in carrying and distributing water to our passengers. They also had to deal with a change of Depot Manager and all the challenges that new leadership brings. There were further altered and amended timetables as we then suffered from landslips at Gillingham and Crewkerne. This added more strain to their guard’s teams, dealing with the impact on customers, after the emergency timetable was only lifted two days earlier. At the end of October 2022, we came to the anniversary of the Fisherton Tunnel train collision. They supported each other and their colleagues, offering mental health support. In November 2022, strike action was called, but then cancelled, only six hours before it was due to start. This led to a very last-minute alteration in plans for the team. They excelled in running with the new plan and taking the opportunity to capture every guard that came into the depot over the two days of cancelled strikes. Completing all their outstanding training requirements and using the time to complete a huge chunk of GSM-R briefs put us in a great place moving forward with that piece of training. The Christmas period saw four days of strike action from the RMT. This meant that they had to not only support the business with train working but also still plan to come into the depot and support those colleagues who were not observing the strike action, drawing up and committing to a roster that allowed for both areas to be covered. They ensured that everyone at both Salisbury and Yeovil Junction was supported and those who were eligible to work trains, did so, to keep our passengers moving. In the new year, again we had strike action to support, both at depot and out working trains, as well as re-starting standardisation meetings as a group so that they can get back on the same page with assessments. Then ensure that the Guards team continue to have robust, standardised and effective assessments to ensure they are working safely and to the highest standards. This has included some challenging conversations with our guards, as we have been completing discreet CX assessments to highlight great behaviour and support those who need to bring their standards up a little higher. The team ensure that all the West of England guards are continuously supported throughout the year, making sure that they also support each other. It is supremely important to recognise the amount of effort, late nights, early mornings, exchanging of assessments, having a mental health first aider, a friend, a councillor, a confidant, someone to shout and scream at, someone to support them when they need it, having someone to celebrate the wins, and more than I can list here, that goes into making sure the front line crews have support.“