Train company seeks caring, chilly commuter

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are searching for a passenger who literally took the coat off his own back yesterday [Wednesday 13 November] to give a vulnerable person a warmer winter.

The train operator had organised a collection of coats at King’s Cross, St Pancras and Blackfriars stations in partnership with the capital-wide Wrap Up London campaign. In just two hours during the morning peak, generous passengers donated over 800 coats, to be distributed by charities supporting people in need of winter clothes.

One commuter on Great Northern arrived at Kings Cross and donated a coat he had brought, then took off the coat he was wearing and handed that to staff at the ticket gate as well.

Paula Hilliard, who led the GTR team that organised the coat collection, said; “This is a prime example of the care and compassion our passengers have for fellow human beings less fortunate than them. It was a really cold morning, which made it a particularly memorable act of kindness. We don’t know who the man is but we would like to get in touch with him to thank him more formally.”

This was the second year that GTR have worked with Wrap Up London, an association that started when Paula saw an advert for the coat collection in her newspaper on the way to work.

Paula said: “I thought it was such a great idea that I contacted Hands On London’s chief executive, Jon Meech, as soon as I got to work, and asked if we could help.”

Paula enlisted the willing support of GTR’s station and headquarters staff to create an enthused and energetic team.

She added: “We used leaflets and posters on Monday and Tuesday to ask passengers if they could donate a spare coat. In our first campaign we collected a magnificent 700 coats over three days, so to get 800 in only two hours this year is just incredible. We were overwhelmed by our passengers’ kindness and can’t thank them enough.”

Wrap Up London is run every November by Whitechapel-based Hands On London, a charity that brings individual and corporate volunteers together with charities who need their support. Last year’s campaign was based mainly at large Underground stations, and collected over 27,000 coats, which were distributed to charities supporting homeless people, elderly people and refugees.

Thanking Paula’s team yesterday, Hands On London’s Jon Meech said: “Your teams at King’s Cross and St Pancras were absolutely amazing. I was at King’s Cross myself so I saw first-hand how enthusiastic and engaging they were. To say it was a pleasure would be an understatement. The station manager also took part and was really helpful and supportive. 800 coats is totally amazing; I saw about 40 sacks myself - and helped move a few of them! Everyone seemed really keen to do this again.”

ends