12.09.08
Brain food: Railway dinner raises £14,000 for charity
Guests at the Railway Benefit Fund’s Scottish Dinner put their wits and co-ordination to the test to raise over £14,000 to help railway people in distress as a result of illness, injury, disability and bereavement.
The fundraising dinner, held at the Glasgow Science Centre on Friday 22 August, forms part of the rail charity’s 150th anniversary celebrations and included a host of ‘pay to play’ challenges provided by the Centre to test guests’ reflexes, scientific knowledge, and ability to perform under pressure.
In attendance at the event, hosted by Dr Malcolm Reed of Transport Scotland, were staff and management from railway organisations across the country including Andy Cooper, Managing Director of Arriva CrossCountry, John Cameron, former Chairman of ScotRail and Board Member with British railways, RBF charity president Sir William McAlpine and Fiona Irvine, HR Director at First ScotRail.
"This, our second RBF Scottish dinner, was a great event with terrific feedback. We had a very generous, fun crowd of around 180 people, who took full advantage of all the arranged games, including correctly placing human organs in the right parts of a body, reaction tests against the clock with lights and sounds and spatial awareness tests involving arranging different shapes.” said David Allen, the RBF’s chairman.
The evening also included a raffle, an auction and a Céilidh band which further tested the rhythm, footwork and co-ordination of guests by providing the soundtrack for traditional Gaelic dancing.
Malcolm Reed, Chief Executive of Transport Scotland said:
“My congratulations to the RBF on yet another successful Scottish gathering and my personal thanks to all railway industry partners for supporting this very worthwhile cause. The Scottish railway scene is vibrant and it is good to have the opportunity to give something back to the industry through the RBF and support our colleagues and their families”.
Fiona Irvine, HR director of First ScotRail, which sponsored the event, said: "We were delighted to again support the fund's Scottish dinner, especially as the charity is celebrating its 150th year.”
David Allen said "On behalf of the RBF, I'd like to thank Transport Scotland, First ScotRail, all of our generous donors, sponsors, bidders and guests and, of course, our lovely hard working volunteers for their support in helping to make the evening such a success.”
The money generated during the evening and throughout the rest of the charity’s anniversary year will be used to help fund the running of the Railway Benefit Fund, which provides financial and emotional assistance to railway workers of all ages, at all stages of their lives, throughout the UK.
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