South Western Railway

14 December 2018, 11:05

Waterloo carols raise funds for local food banks

Waterloo carols raise funds for local food banks: Waterloo choir 12.12.18

Commuters passing through Waterloo station were treated to an impromptu carol concert when the choirs of Sherborne Girls and The Gryphon School sang on the station concourse.

The choir, numbering over a hundred with girls and boys aged between 11 and 18, serenaded shoppers and commuters with festive favourites in a bid to raise donations for food bank charities in Sherborne and Waterloo.

Mr John Jenkins, Director of Music at Sherborne Girls, said: “The response from commuters and station staff was amazingly supportive. The whole concourse echoed to traditional carol singing and we are certain that commuters continued their journey with their spirits raised.”

Mr Val Mizen, Head of Music at The Gryphon School, added: “The pupils performed beautifully together, and they did a marvellous job of representing Sherborne town. We are also so pleased to be able to raise awareness of the food bank charities and highlight the essential work they carry out.

"Our most sincere thanks to our School leadership for letting us attend, to Chris Loder and South Western Railways for their generous support, to Waterloo Station itself for accommodating around 140 singers and an organ to our wonderful colleagues from Sherborne Girls' Music Department who always make this joint venture such a pleasure, to the wonderful Team of Gryphon Staff, to the very people of London for their generous donations, and finally to the wonderful students of both Schools whop volunteered their time and energy for such a worthy cause - especially with Christmas fast approaching."

Waterloo Foodbank’s Rebekah Gibson said: “At Waterloo Foodbank we have loved working in partnership with Sherborne Foodbank, to raise money to support people in crisis this Christmas. We were amazed at the generosity of the public and the fantastic choirs that made this event such a success!”

After two hours of singing, the amount raised from passers-by and train commuters totalled more than £3,800, which is a magnificent result and will be shared between the Sherborne and Waterloo Food Bank charities.

Chris Loder, Head of Service Strategy for South Western Railway (and old boy of The Gryphon School), said: “The choirs gave the UK’s busiest railway station a unique atmosphere with people stopping to listen, applaud and donate to charity – a winning combination. We were delighted to make this possible”.

For more information on the charities see: www.sherbornefoodbank.org

Ends

For more information please contact Mrs Kate Cox, Marketing Manager, Sherborne Girls on K.cox@Sherborne.com or 01935 818262

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press@swrailway.com

South Western Railway

Operating over 1,500 services each weekday, SWR provides commuter, regional and long distance services to customers in South West London, the southern counties of England and the Isle of Wight.

As well as commuters and business travellers, SWR transports leisure travellers across the region, to many tourist and heritage sites, and the numerous major sporting and social events that take place along the route every year.

SWR provides easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities.

About DFTO

DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027.

The group’s current train operating companies are: LNER, Northern, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and SWR. It has over 23,000 employees.

DFTO runs over 6,000 services a day and delivers over 450 million customer journeys across its networks every year. This accounts for 26% of total UK passenger journeys and 30% of passenger miles.