Campaign on right track to keep youngsters safe

IAN BUNTING

Fearless – the youth programme of independent charity Crimestoppers – has launched a new campaign to keep young people safe this summer.

To coincide with the school summer holidays, the organisation is working in partnership with Network Rail to raise awareness among youngsters of the dangers of trespassing on railways.

This comes after new figures reveal that between April 1 2019 and June 30 2020, there were 13 incidents of trespassing on railways in Rutherglen/Cambuslang, causing 1311 minutes’ disruption to passengers and costing Network Rail nearly £50,000.

In the same period, there were 735 incidences of trespassing in Scotland – causing more than 50,025 minutes of disruption to commuters and resulting in a bill of over £1.8 million for

Network Rail.

Often incidences of trespassing spike during the summer months, so the national digital campaign aims to give youths clear facts on the dangers to prevent them from being badly hurt or killed.

The crime charity is encouraging youngsters to speak up if they know who regularly trespasses – putting their own lives and others at risk - by giving information online, 100 per cent anonymously via fearless.org.

Lyndsay McDade, senior youth projects officer for Crimestoppers, said: “Trespassing on the line can be fatal and it’s vital that young people know the dangers in order to keep themselves and their friends safe this summer.

“We’re urging young people to tell our charity who regularly trespasses on the tracks and where.”

Incidents can be reported anonymously through an online form at fearless.org