Friday, 27 July 2012

FIRST GREAT WESTERN TO SUPPORT MARINE CONSERVATION, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CHARITY

First Great Western is supporting the work of Padstow based charity, ‘The National Lobster Hatchery’.

The rail company has offered to provide ten free tickets to the organisation to enable it to develop and grow. The tickets will allow staff of the charity to attend meetings in London in order to increase the charity’s outputs and raise much needed funds.

General Manager; Dominic Boothroyd said “We are truly grateful for the support of First Great Western. This gift is a huge help at a time when charities everywhere need that little extra support. It will allow us to attend meetings around the country, at no extra cost and so allow us to grow as an organisation. Ultimately this will help us to deliver more of our marine conservation, research and education outputs to the regions coastal communities”.

The charity is going through a period of development at the moment with a significant increase in its capacity to raise juveniles, with the addition of new hatchery equipment and plans to enhance its educational out-reach. The charity is also driving forward its programme of research with some significant projects taking place at the moment.

James Davis from First Great Western had this to say:

“First Great Western is privileged to provide services from London Paddington to some of the county’s leading destinations. Our lines in Cornwall are symbolic of that, offering passengers easy access to the capital or to stations across the south west – and the ability to work or make that vital phone call as they travel. First Great Western is committed to playing an active part in the communities we serve. We are delighted to be able to sponsor the Lobster Hatchery and hope that we can help ensure that their valuable work continues.”

First Great Western has one of the largest and most complex rail networks in the UK, carrying one and a half million passengers every week on 9,000 services, and calling at 276 stations. They are the only UK rail company to operate High Speed Inter-city, commuter, regional and sleeper services and provide fast and frequent commuter services for the M4 corridor, the Thames Valley and Newbury and Oxford routes and operate services in the South West, providing local commuter and leisure services and the key longer distance routes from Cardiff to Portsmouth.