Avanti West Coast has published its Annual Social Value Report today, Friday the 14th of July.
The report demonstrates how the rail operator has worked to make progress and meaningful change to both the environment and communities of the regions it serves.
Social and Environmental projects are detailed in the report over the past year, including Avanti West Coast's school's engagement programme, work with local charities and suppliers, and its sustainability endeavours.
The activities undertaken by the rail operator support communities up and down the West Coast Main Line and aim to support social issues within these communities in order to bring measurable change.
The report has revealed that these projects and initiatives have seen a total operational, environmental and economic impact worth £212 million over the last year, demonstrating the sustainability strategy of Avanti West Coast: ‘Our Responsible Plan' as follows:
- Connecting young people to opportunities via the ‘Feel Good Field Trips' initiative
- Development of a mural featuring pioneering train driver Karen Harrison at London Euston as part of a recruitment campaign aimed to inspire women to consider a career driving on the railways.
- The creation of ‘Travel Companion' which is a dedicated channel providing instant accessibility help during journeys.
Further to these impressive projects, Avanti West Coast has also created a position of Accessibility and Social Value Manager under its sustainability strategy. The position will see engagement with both stakeholders and staff members to create positive impact that supports the community outside of the railway, building social, economic and environmental development.
Avanti West Coast is also focused on its commitment to social responsibility and will make good use of the report in order to develop initiatives in the future as well as progressing its sustainability aims which include the rail operator's targets to build more than £1bn of social value by 2031.
Melanie Hockenhull, Head of Sustainability at Avanti West Coast, said:
“We want to make a long-lasting impact in the communities we serve, so it's important our business activities contribute positively towards society and the environment along our route.”
“Our Social Value Report highlights the actions we're taking to drive change and we'll use it as a benchmark to push further improvements in our mission to be a responsible business.”
“By being transparent about our progress, we hope to inspire our people, customers and communities to play a part in making a difference to the world we live in.”
Are most of Avanti’s passengers/ potential passengers going to be impressed by these sideline issues?These just divert the operator from the core task of running trains effectively on the WCML.
However, they are not alone.Other operators chose to put money and effort into such projects.