Rail Safe Friendly programme marks one year with ‘Your Future in Rail’ event at Guilsborough Academy

On Wednesday 20th March to mark the one-year milestone of the Rail Safe Friendly (RSF) programme launch, over 20 businesses from within rail, along with students at Guilsborough Academy joined forces to discuss safety on the railway and acknowledge the progression of the programme.

Since launching in March 2023, the RSF programme provides schools and the rail industry with an opportunity to work together towards a common goal to improve rail safety in all schools across the UK, using content from the Network Rail ‘Switched On’ Rail Safety website.

The RSF Programme was launched last year, almost six years after the tragic death of 11-year-old, Northamptonshire student, Harrison Ballantyne.

In June 2017, Harrison was tragically electrocuted at a rail freight depot, and he sadly died at the scene. The schoolboy, from Crick, climbed onto a stationary freight wagon after losing a football and received a fatal electric shock from an overhead cable.

Harrison was on the way home from his school, Guilsborough Academy, with five friends at the time. Despite having no direct contact with the power lines at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, the 11-year-old was hit by 25,000 volts of electricity and there was nothing the paramedics or his friends could have done to save him.

The RSF programme, launched by Harrison’s mother, Elizabeth Ballantyne, and a number of others including; Live Learn, Network Rail, the British Transport Police, Colas Rail, Guilsborough Academy and other parents, was created with the intentions of all parties fighting to see greater education around rail safety for young people across Northamptonshire and the entire country.

In just one year, the RSF programme is having an incredible impact; reaching over 4000 schools, alongside 72 railway partner organisations, with youth rail trespass down by 37 per cent.

Following the one-year marking of the launch of the programme, Mr Simon Frazer, the Principal at Guilsborough Academy, said: “We want to encourage as many schools as possible to include rail safety in their curriculum, and to see it introduced nationally. Harrison’s story continues to be a powerful and poignant message. Over 4000 schools across the country, and over 70 companies, now engage with resources to teach children about the dangers on the railways and how they can keep themselves safe. We were proud to launch Rail Safe Friendly in March 2023 and are the first school in the country to renew their Gold award. Furthermore, the anniversary provided students from Year 10 and 11 the opportunity to network with over 20 employers, discussing safety procotols and potential rail career prospects.

However, the principal says it is very difficult to have a national impact without the involvement and support of other schools – not just across Northamptonshire, but up and down the country.

“This programme is and will always be close to our hearts. Guilsborough students, particularly those who grew up with Harrison, played a part in designing the logo for the programme, the launch. As a school we did a lot of work around Harrison’s memory and part of his legacy will be to try and ensure that this does not happen to anyone else from our community. We need as many schools as possible, both primary and secondary, to engage with the programme”.

Stuart Heaton, Founder and Managing Director of Learn Live and the Rail Safe Friendly Programme, who has played an instrumental role in growing the programme said: “I’m incredibly grateful to the Rail Safe Friendly partners who attended the ‘Your Future In Rail’ event at Guilsborough Academy to support the programme and network. It was amazing to see Elizabeth Ballantyne (Harrison's Mother) presenting awards to Guilsborough Academy, Arriva Rail London, Colas Rail UK, Cross Country Trains Limited and Telent Technology Services Ltd. The ongoing support of all our RSF partners and their help in raising awareness of rail safety in all schools in the UK, is paramount to the success of this programme.

This programme plays such an important role in ensuring that children and young people have the knowledge and skills to know how to keep themselves away from dangers on the railway”.

If you are interested in supporting the programme, or know someone who will, please visit: https://www.railsafefriendly.com