Marathon run in train driver’s memory

Local employees from a leading train company have raised more than £2,500 for St Columba's Hospice after taking part in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival earlier this year, in memory of their late friend and colleague Graeme Potter.

CrossCountry staff, Barry Stoddart, 39, Kevin Scott, 42, David Lawrie, 40 and Ailsa Burns, 39, all based in Edinburgh decided to enter the two-day running festival on the 25 and 26 May in memory of Graeme who sadly passed away in January after he lost his battle with cancer at the young age of 48.

The long hours spent training and completing the 10k, half and full marathons between the foursome were rewarded by family, friends and CrossCountry colleagues who helped them raise in excess of £2,500 for St Columba's Hospice, a specialist cancer hospice in Edinburgh. The money raised has gone towards the funding for a new building. They chose to raise money for St Columba's following the great care and support the hospice provided Graeme with towards the end of his life.

Kevin Scott, who lives in East Lothian and worked with train driver Graeme for ten years, said: "We decided to enter the Marathon Festival in memory of our good friend and colleague who sadly passed away after a brave battle with cancer earlier this year. We wanted to do something for St Columba's Hospice because they provide fantastic care for patients and their families during a very difficult time and they rely on charity donations to keep up their amazing work.

"We are entirely grateful for all the support and donations we've received so far. We are all looking at running in the festival again next year - including stepping up to the next distance!"

CrossCountry regularly contribute to a number of charity initiatives along its routes - the most recent being for the Gromit Unleashed exhibition - a new public art exhibition that hit the streets of Bristol on the 1st July for ten weeks.  CrossCountry is sponsoring one of the unique Gromits, designed by the Royal Mint to help raise funds for Bristol Children's Hospital charity, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal.

Notes to editors

For further information, please contact Kelly Mortlock or Jack Storry on 020 7025 7522 or email [email protected].

CrossCountry started operating on 11 November 2007. The franchise, which is the most extensive in the UK, will run until 31 March 2016. For further information on CrossCountry services and future franchise plans log on to crosscountrytrains.co.uk.

CrossCountry is part of the Arriva group, which is owned by Deutsche Bahn. Arriva is a leading pan-European public transport operators with more than 42,000 employees and operations across 12 European countries. The link to Arriva is www.arriva.co.uk. The link to Deutsche Bahn is deutschebahn.com.

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CrossCountry bookings

Passengers can buy tickets for any rail journey in Britain, with any train company and with no booking fee at crosscountrytrains.co.uk or via the free CrossCountry Train Tickets app.Download the app by visiting your app store or by texting TRAVEL to 87080.

CrossCountry facts and figures

STATIONS SERVED: 119
ROUTE MILES: 1,490
WEEKDAY SERVICES: 295
PASSENGERS CARRIED: Over 30 million passenger journeys a year anticipated
ANNUAL TRAIN MILEAGE: Approximately 16 million
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 1,600
LONGEST TRAIN SERVICE: 08.20 Aberdeen to Penzance (774 miles)

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Contact Information

CrossCountry Press Office: [email protected]

About CrossCountry

CrossCountry is a long-distance passenger train operator, with a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff and calling at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 240 services every weekday, equating to over 42 million passenger journeys each year.

For further information on CrossCountry services, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk or visit one of our social media platforms via X @crosscountryuk or Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains