Our 2020 Heart of Gold Award Winners
Only the third year of our Heart of Gold Awards and it was a truly inspiring experience.
2020 hasn’t been the easiest year so far with the Covid-19 crisis affecting us all in some way. However, it has also brought out the best in people and we have seen some amazing acts of kindness to celebrate and honour.
We went out to the industry at the end of May for nominations and stories of all the wonderful things happening in the Rail Industry in the midst of a national crisis. We hunted high and low for examples of people who have a genuine heart of gold, have gone the extra mile, shown amazing kindness and made a real difference.
We were flooded with so many inspiring and heart -warming stories of rail heroes. Nominees spanned right across all corners of the industry from Toc’s to Freight, infrastructure to suppliers. The shortlisting panel were faced with an almost impossible task of shortlisting down to 5.
The shortlist was then put out for public vote via social media, text and email and we were inundated with over 1,000 votes. The winner was announced on our social platforms by our charity President, Pete Waterman on 19th June.
Congratulations to Glyn Smith our WINNER with 37% of the votes. Glyn saved the life of a young child on the tracks when he was driving his Arriva Rail London train – such a worthy winner. Thank you Glyn, for being a true rail hero.
Glyn said: “I am extremely grateful to have been nominated, shortlisted and to have now won this fantastic award. To have rescued a very young, hopelessly lost child from the railway line was in itself very rewarding. As a father of a young child myself, am so pleased the outcome was positive.”
Paul Hutchings, Managing Director at Arriva Rail London, said: “A huge thank you to everyone who voted for Glyn Smith as your 2020 Heart of Gold Award winner. Glyn’s quick thinking saved a young boy from the train tracks, preventing what could have been a tragedy, and we are delighted to see his heroic actions recognised by our railway family. There are so many people in rail who go the extra mile to show kindness and make a difference to people’s journeys every day, and we are privileged to belong to an incredibly supportive industry and have such a dedicated London Overground team.”
Congratulations to Ezekiel Awoyomi who received a HIGHLY COMMENDED award and 29% of the votes. There is huge admiration for the work Ezekiel does, outside of his day job, supporting those in need in his community – so inspirational – thank you Ezekiel, for your kindness.
Chief Superintendent Martin Fry, British Transport Police, said: “We are all extremely proud of Eze and the contribution that he has been making to his community as well as the wonderful job that he does as a Police Inspector for the British Transport Police. I’m pleased that the public have shared our sense of pride in Eze and have voted him as the recipient of this highly commended awarded.”
All of these incredible people represent Britain’s railways and are truly the pride of rail.
