GB Railfreight are thrilled to announce that they have recently sponsored Sharpness AFC, who play in the Gloucestershire County League. The sponsorship has enabled the club to purchase new training tops for the players.

Stuart Priday, Eastleigh based Operations Manager, is on the committee for the team, whilst his son plays and wife acts as Physio. The team are going to need all the support they can receive this season as they look to finish top, following their successful run dating back to promotion last year.

GBRf would like to wish the team all the best for the remainder of the season.

On Wednesday 12 February, GB Railfreight, in partnership with the Ministry of Defence’s Career Transition Partnership (CTP), held their first recruitment day specifically for military service leavers at its newly opened locomotive simulator facility in Peterborough

GB Railfreight is the third largest rail freight operator in the UK and one of the fastest growing companies in the railway sector, transporting goods for a wide range of customers. As the business continues to grow, GBRf are seeking to recruit ex-military staff for Groundstaff and Trainee Train Manager (Driver) positions in various locations within the UK including, Peterborough, Doncaster, London, Scotland and Midlands.

The recruitment day provided military service leavers a broad understanding of the exciting opportunities available for a railway career within GBRf and how the military skill set transfers to the sector.

Service leavers had the opportunity to hear from the GBRf team and other service leavers who have successfully made the transition into GB Railfreight, whilst also learning about current and future opportunities within the business. In addition, attendees had a chance to experience what it’s like to drive a GBRf locomotive by taking part in a test drive using one of the facility’s simulators unveiled last year.

John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, said:

“We are on a recruitment drive for new people to join our growing team across the country and the skill set that military service leavers proses make them great candidates for a career with us. We partnered with CTP to make our recruitment day a success and welcomed 30 ex-military personnel to our brand-new locomotive simulator in Peterborough to show them what a life on the railways looks like. I hope many will consider joining our ranks in the future!”

Rail Minister Chris Heaton Harris MP said:

“Every part of society should honour the debt we owe those who’ve served our country. Getting our veterans into quality jobs in our rail sector not only provides security for them and their families but boosts the economy of global Britain.

 “I’m proud that this Government recently announced a new Veteran’s railcard, extending discounted fares to more than 830,000 former service personnel, and delighted that GB Railfreight, and the wider rail industry, is doing its bit.”

For further information about working with GB Railfreight, please email Gemma Platt on Gemma.Platt@gbrailfreight.com

GB Railfreight are thrilled to announce that staff have raised £184,517 for Headway – the brain injury association, and Macmillan Cancer Support. Fundraising ran from January 2018 and ended in December 2019.

Over the past decade, GBRf has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for national and local charities. These charities change periodically but are always chosen by GBRf employees and are often linked with railway personnel. Headway and Macmillan have been GBRf’s chosen charities since 2018.

The two charities do incredible work in their respective fields with Macmillan not only helping with the medical needs of people affected by cancer, but also looking at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, whilst campaigning for better cancer care. Headway works to promote understanding of all aspects of brain injury and provide information, support and services to survivors, their families and carers.

John Smith, Managing Director GBRf, said;

“I am absolutely delighted that once again our brilliant team have managed to raise an incredible amount of money to support the work being undertaken by Headway and Macmillan. These charities are very well deserving of every single penny.

Our employees have been organising all sorts of fundraising events, from bake sales and cycle rides, to the four-day charity charter and the pump trolley challenge. I am always impressed by the lengths GBRf colleagues will go to for a good cause.”

 Jo Plant, Director of Fundraising at Headway, said:

“We would like to say a massive thank you to GB Railfreight and its staff for all their efforts over the past two years. To raise more than £90,000 is an incredible achievement and we are so grateful to everyone who contributed, either by directly donating or by giving up their time.  

Every year around 350,000 people are admitted to hospital with an acquired brain injury. That’s one every 90 seconds. That’s why receiving the support of charity partner’s like GB Railfreight is vital to us.

The funds it raised will enable our frontline services to help so many people living with the effects of brain injury across the UK. Thank you!”

 Leena Sirpal, Regional Fundraising Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“A huge thank you to GB Railfreight for raising an incredible amount of money for Macmillan Cancer Support. This will go such a long way to help so many people living with cancer.

With the number of people living with cancer in UK continuing to rise, the work we do at Macmillan is more urgent than ever. We are extremely grateful for the support from GB Railfreight.”

GBRf Charity Railtours, the fundraising arm of GB Railfreight, is excited to announce that it will return in 2020 with another 4-day charity rail tour, the third such event since 2016.

From 24 September to 27 September 2020 the organisation will be raising money for Prostate Cancer UK. The GBRf train will visit different parts of the country following some of the more interesting routes and will be accompanied by GBRf’s more ‘unusual’ locomotives.

GBRf had decided to retire its tours in 2018. However, after much-admired colleague Des O’Brien passed away at relatively short notice having suffered an aggressive stomach cancer in 2018 and in June 2019 Paul Taylor was also diagnosed with prostate cancer, the team at GBRf decided restart the tours with the strapline: “This Time it’s Personal”.

Commenting on the decision to organise the Charity Railtour, GBRf Managing Director John Smith said:

“After GBRf 2018, the team behind these trains took some time to reflect and opted against doing another. Then, following the sudden passing of our colleague Des and the diagnosis of Paul Taylor with prostate cancer, the team decided it was time to return the tours in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, which is also our charity of choice for our company-wide fundraising efforts.

 “We are absolutely delighted to be returning these incredibly popular tours and we will be hoping to raise even more money than before for Prostate Cancer UK because for us, this issue is personal.”

More details will be announced in February before a full announcement of the itinerary in March 2020. Bookings will open in early April, and the release date will be announced in advance.

GB Railfreight are delighted to renew our sponsorship with Potteric Carr Nature Reserve for another year. Situated next to the GBRf Doncaster Office, Potteric Carr Nature Reserve give local wildlife a safe haven to survive and flourish.

GBRf encourages people to visit the site and enjoy the abundance of habitats the South Yorkshire nature reserve has to offer.

Sarah Robinson, Corporate Partnerships Assistant at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said:

“We are delighted GB Railfreight has decided to sponsor Potteric Carr Nature Reserve for another year. Potteric Carr is famed for its wetland birds including bitterns and marsh harriers and provides a real oasis to animals in South Yorkshire.

A huge thank you to the whole organisation for helping Yorkshire Wildlife Trust keep wild places like this safe.”

Over the past decade, GBRf has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for national and local charities. These charities change periodically but are always chosen by GBRf employees, and are often linked with railway personnel. Currently we are supporting Headway and Macmillan. We encourage your to visit their websites and read about the amazing work these charities do, amazing work only made possible by people like you supporting them.

GBRf encourages all its employees to take part in fundraising events, these can range from a bake sale to running a 5 day charter train. Pictured above is Daniel Matthews, delivering 40 bags of cloths /bric-à-brac to Headways head office in Nottingham