Schoolchildren to help make film promoting safe and healthy travel thanks to GWR grant

The Severnside Community Rail Partnership wants to empower youngsters aged 11-18 to travel independently on public transport and to do so in a safe and responsible manner.

Students at secondary schools in North Somerset will be encouraged to help produce a short film that can be viewed in its entirety or as a series of clips suitable for social media platforms.

As part of GWR’s franchise agreement with the Department for Transport, the train operator is committed to supporting schools, colleges, community and other not-for-profit organisations by aiding a number of initiatives.

The Severnside Community Rail Partnership will engage with key stakeholders to consider concerns around young people travelling safely, before workshops are held within schools allowing small groups of students to explore barriers to using public transport. 

Severnside Community Rail Partnership manager Heather Cullimore said:

“The workshops will allow student to express the reasons behind their current travel choices and consider the factors which would motivate them to choose sustainable, healthy travel over lifts in the car from family members and friends, and the desire to learn to drive or consider car ownership as soon as they are old enough to do so.

“A local film production company will be instructed to create the film based on the outputs of the stakeholder meeting and school workshops. The film will feature the young people engaged in the workshops who will be afforded some creative steer.”

The completed film will be shown to schools and youth groups and will be available to a wide audience on the Severnside Community Rail Partnerships YouTube channel.

GWR Community Manager Emma Morris said:

“We have a specific pot of money designed to help support schools, colleges and community or other not-for-profit organisations.

“This is a really exciting project which should really appeal to young people. Once complete, the film can become a valuable tool to be shown in school assemblies, PSHE lessons and youth club sessions.”

To find out more about the Severnside Community Rail Partnership please visit severnside-rail.org.uk

Notes to editors

First Greater Western Limited, trading as “Great Western Railway” (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London. GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, and before the covid-19 pandemic helped over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year. GWR was recently awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to 31 March 2023 with an option to extend for a further year. 

Find out more here: https://www.gwr.com/about-us