Brew Monday

On January 20, some 106 Samaritans branches ran Brew Monday events at over 150 stations across the country, handing out teabags and sharing listening tips.

Brew Monday coincided with ‘Blue Monday’, which is considered to be the most difficult day of the year.

Passengers and station staff were encouraged to come together over a cup of tea, while awareness was raised for people to seek help if they need it and to check in with their family and friends.

These stations included London Waterloo (see main picture, page 56), Birmingham New Street (top picture), London Victoria and Milton Keynes.

Over the week of January 20-25, MTR Elizabeth Line held a series of events across its network to help mark the Brew Monday campaign.

On January 23, MTR Elizabeth Line held an office-based tea party at which colleagues were encouraged to donate home-baked goods ( bottom picture). It provided staff with an opportunity to take time out of their busy schedules and reminded everyone to take care of their mental health and wellbeing.

Pictured (left to right) at the tea party are Samaritans volunteer June Parker, Romford station staff member Tony Brindley, Samaritans volunteer Margaret Nice, MTREL Safeguarding Manager Sultana Pasha and Head of Security Robert Gough.

Pasha says: “We were joined by two Samaritans volunteers who kindly gave up some time to speak to us about the fantastic work the Samaritans do. We raised £ 54.12, which was donated to the Havering Samaritans branch.

“We at MTR Elizabeth Line are very proud to have contributed a total of more than 2,000 hours to the industry’s Million Hour Challenge. The hours were accumulated through safeguarding customer awareness sessions, training and work in the community, supporting vulnerable persons and promoting support avenues for those experiencing crises.

“Samaritans has helped us to train 319 colleagues since 2018, of which a portion are from our agency cleaning teams. The training and awareness pieces have helped our colleagues deliver

290 life-saving interventions since 2015, all of which are rewarded and recognised in our quarterly Heroes award.”