Platform Rail is among the finalists in the ninth annual Global Good Awards, recognising leaders and organisations achieving practical, real-world impact for people and the planet.
Platform has been named as a finalist in the Educational Excellence category, alongside some big names such as HSBC and Samsung. The scheme – which delivers educational programmes on behalf of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Severnside, TransWilts, and South Wessex Community Rail Partnerships – was set up in January 2022 and began rolling out its work to schools in April of that year.
Platform strives to connect classrooms to local rail, encouraging young people to feel empowered to use the rail network and access the health and life benefits that come with engagement in active travel.
In just over a year, the scheme has delivered workshops and assemblies to over 7,500 children and young people and has taken over 3,000 of them on free train-trips for educational purposes, always connecting those trips to onward activities and curriculum-based learning sessions. Their work includes a high level of engagement with special schools, as well as primary, secondary, and alternative provision schools. Additionally, the Platform website – which has free curriculum-linked resources available to all teachers – has attracted 5000 unique users, with nearly 1,000 lessons being downloaded for use in the classroom.
This year’s Global Good Awards have seen the highest number of entries from the widest global spread of entrants in the award’s eight-year history, highlighting that organisations across the globe are striving to have a more sustainable outlook and impact as we edge closer to net zero.
Emilie Dawson, Learning Development Manager at Platform, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Platform has been shortlisted as finalists in the Global Good Awards. We have had a busy year supporting schools across our wide area and it is wonderful to have recognition for it in this way.
“I am so proud of my team for the incredible work they do in making school trips accessible, healthy, sustainable, and fun, and I am delighted their work has been recognised in this way. My thanks as always go to our Community Rail Partnerships, and to GWR, Cross Country, and Community Rail Network, whose generous funding allows us to keep our offer free of charge to schools, something that is so important in the current climate.”
Winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on 12th July.
