More than 34,000 Cub Scouts have earned their Personal safety activity badge since its launch in 2017, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (29 June).
More than 34,000 Cub Scouts have earned their Personal safety activity badge since its launch in 2017, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (29 June).
Established by The Scout Association and CrossCountry, the badge helps young people understand the dangers of playing near locations such as busy roads, large expanses of water and railway lines.
The Rail Minister is now the new signatory of the Personal Rail Safety Certificate, available to 157,000 male and female Cub Scouts aged between 8 and ten years old. The badge has quickly become one of the organisations most popular badges, with over eight thousand awarded this year alone.
Andrew Jones, Rail Minister, said:
“Having been a Cub Scout myself, I am incredibly proud to see so many young people across the country earning their badges and acting as ambassadors for rail safety.
“Our top priority is ensuring everyone is safe on our railways. This award plays a vital role in helping to protect young people and save lives, and I congratulate everyone who has received their well-deserved award.”
Chief Executive of Scouts UK, Matt Hyde, said:
“Thanks to Andrew Jones the new Rail Minister for agreeing to act as signatory on our Personal Safety badge certificate. We value the support of CrossCounty in helping us get the rail safety message out to our 157,000 Cubs Scouts.
“I also want to congratulate the 34,000 young girls and boys who have gained this badge in the last couple of years.”
Managing Director of CrossCountry, Tom Joyner, said:
“To young people the railways, roads and waterways can be a place of wonder and excitement, but they are also a place of heavy engineering, fast moving vehicles and powerful machinery.
“In such environments the dangers of injury can be high, so we are delighted to continue working with the Scouts Association in helping promote the importance of staying safe.”
To achieve their badge and certificate, Cub Scouts must learn about all elements of rail safety, including level crossings, personal safety on trains and avoidance of electrical infrastructure. By helping a younger generation understand some of the dangers of the railway.
Derails of the support pack can be found here https://fundraising.scouts.org.uk/crosscountry
Today’s announcement comes during Rail Safety week, as government and the industry promotes responsibility and care while using or working on the railways.
About Scouting
- The Scouts help young people gain skills for life. Skills like resilience, teamwork and leadership have helped members become everything from teachers and social workers to astronauts and Olympians.
- The Scouts passionately believe in helping their members gain these skills by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves. They provide opportunities to do this by fun, adventure-based activities, giving young people the chance to take risks in a safe environment and have their first taste of responsibility.
- Over 200 activities are offered by the Scouts around the UK, made possible by the efforts of 163,000 voluntary adult leaders. This has helped make the Scouts the largest co-educational youth movement in the country.
- Out of the Scouts' 638,000 members, over 474,000 are young people aged 6-18 and over 163,000 are adult volunteers. Over 187,000 (29%) of members are female.
- Adults working in the Scouts contribute more than 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.
- There are more volunteers in the Scouts (163,000) than the combined workforces of the BBC (35,000) and McDonald's (115,000).
- There are 50 million male and female Scouts they live in nearly every nation on earth.
About CrossCountry
- CrossCountry’s network is the most geographical-extensive passenger rail franchise in Britain. Stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff, it calls at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of the Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 298 services every weekday, equating to some 40 million passenger journeys a year.
- CrossCountry is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers over 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year
Contact Information
CrossCountry Press Office
[email protected]About CrossCountry
CrossCountry is a long-distance passenger train operator, with a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff and calling at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 240 services every weekday, equating to over 42 million passenger journeys each year.
For further information on CrossCountry services, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk or visit one of our social media platforms via X @crosscountryuk or Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains
Long-distance train operator CrossCountry has announced adjustments to its timetable from 14 December, as part of the rail industry’s twice-yearly timetable review.
- Giant city centre artwork unveiled on Aire Street in Leeds
- 14-metre-high mural, created by Leeds based artist Elle Koziupa and Global Street Art, celebrates the journeys that have helped shape Leeds
- Photorealism, painterly illustration and graphics combine to depict the textile carts that powered Leeds’ rise to a northern powerhouse, to CrossCountry trains linking the city’s people and culture to the rest of UK today
- CrossCountry will operate a reduced timetable over the Bank Holiday weekend – with no services on Saturday 23 August - due to industrial action by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
- Services on Sunday 24 August are also likely to be subject to cancellations across all CrossCountry routes
- Passengers are advised not to travel on Saturday 23 August and to travel on either side of the Bank Holiday weekend, or claim a full refund
