Scotland’s Railway has officially launched a partnership between Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School and their Motherwell maintenance base.
During a launch event to officially announce the new partnership with the Motherwell-based school, Scotland’s Railway handed over 37 reconditioned bikes for pupils to use. These were accompanied by accessories for each of the bikes, kindly donated by Story Contracting.
It follows on from work carried out by Motherwell’s delivery base off-track maintenance team, who over the summer upgraded and revamped areas within the playground.
The maintenance base team weren’t alone in volunteering their time and were accompanied by colleagues from Amcogiffen, who generously volunteered their time, and QTS, who renewed a fence within the grounds.
Pupils also received a rail safety talk to learn more about the dangers of the railway, with the school being so close to the track.
The community partnership was forged with the maintenance base after a pilot scheme had proved so beneficial last year between the Glasgow delivery unit and St Roch’s Primary School in Glasgow.
The Motherwell team was given the opportunity to vote for a school local to their base to partner with and Keir Hardie Memorial Primary was nominated.
Stephen Crosbie, head of maintenance delivery for Scotland’s Railway, said: We’re thrilled to be formalising the community partnership with Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School after they were so deservedly chosen by our colleagues.
“We are grateful to the many people in the school community and our Scotland’s Railway colleagues, who have been pivotal in building the relationship up until now.
“We are confident that the partnership will create exciting opportunities in the coming months and we are looking at the different ways we can offer support to the pupils, the school and the wider community now and in the future.”
Shirley Queen, head teacher at Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School, said: “We were delighted when Network Rail chose to work with us. The work carried out so far has made a great difference to our school grounds and I am confident that this partnership will enhance and create new learning opportunities for all our learners.”
Darren Pennycuick, senior construction manager at Story Contracting said: “It was great to attend the Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School and Network Rail partnership launch today in Motherwell, having proudly supported the bike refurbishment initiative for the last three years and seeing the positive difference it makes to the children.”
Stephen Campbell, operations director at AmcoGiffen said: “AmcoGiffen are delighted to support Network Rail’s partnership programme with Keir Hardie Memorial Primary School to provide local school children with safe and accessible school grounds and contributing positively to the overall wellbeing of the school children.
"It's about creating a sense of community and belonging but also enhancing educational experiences by reducing logistical barriers and promoting sustainability. AmcoGiffen will ensure we support Network Rail’s partnership programme to thrive and achieve its full potential. We look forward to continuing to grow our excellent community relationship together.”
The community partnership will provide an opportunity to promote safety around the railway.
It will also enable young people to participate in STEM activities while encouraging them to learn more about technology and engineering and to think about the possibilities beyond their school years.
Scotland’s Railway staff will volunteer their time and expertise to support the school community with practical skills and assistance. The next task will be filling the refurbished planters with all-season plants and a graffiti project in conjunction with local graffiti artist Michael Corr.