Railway Mission Staff Conference 2022

On Wednesday the 25^th of May we started the Railway Mission Staff Conference at Northampton, which was opened and closed by our Chair of Trustees Alex. It has been a couple of years since we have all managed to gather together in one place, so it was a real blessing to have some time to relax and build friendships within the wider team.
 
On Wednesday we welcomed guests from Railway Benevolent Fund, The Transport Benefit Fund, Samaritans, Railway Children and British Transport Police. 
 
Over the three days, we had four sessions with Gemma Margerison. Gemma is a  Resilience and Recovery Coach, who works predominantly with frontline, care and uniformed services as well as those who have been through trauma. A former journalist and PTSD survivor, Gemma is passionate about communication and awareness around resilience and wellbeing and is also undertaking a Doctorate in Coaching and Mentoring at Oxford Brookes University.
 

On Friday, we were honoured to have Andrew Haines join us. Andrew is the Chief Executive for Network Rail. This was a great opportunity for the Railway Mission to pray for Andrew and the core leadership team at Network Rail and the Transition Team for future Great British Railways. Andrew’s testimony and insight were both moving and stimulating. Please pray for Andrew, much of his role is controlled and directed by the politics of the moment. Pray for his wisdom and personal resilience. As the industry faces a summer of industrial action, please pray for all those believers in the industry who are wrestling with the pressure strike brings.

During our time at Northampton, we also had representatives from the International Railway Mission, now called RailHope International. Guests came from Norway, Finland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and India. The international representatives stayed on for the General Assembly which is held each year.

This year we held the meeting both in-person and via Video Link, with delegates from all the countries above plus Indonesia, Italy, America and Singapore. Please pray for all the countries that connect with RailHope International especially Indonesia as they became the latest country to join with RailHope.

While visiting the UK, some of the RailHope visitors took the opportunity to explore some of the railway network. There was a walk along the Lamport Railway as well as a tour beneath Waterloo Station and a visit to the Severn Valley Railway. during these visits, RailHope Calendars were given out. Please pray that the Bible verses on the calendars will speak into the hearts of those to whom they were given.