Christmas is the busiest time of year at our railway. As a result, our Lapland Express Santa trains need a larger team of volunteers to run than other services. So when SERC Downpatrick offered to send us a few of their students to help out over the Christmas period we were only too glad to accept.
The first batch of helpers arrived in late November. They assisted our Administrator Kathryn with decorating the train and station foyer. Under her watch, they transformed a utilitarian 1980s commuter railcar into an unrecognisably cosy Christmas train. Making a 450 Class train look good is no easy task, but they absolutely knocked it out of the park.
We had even more student help over the last two weekends. We were joined by small teams on each running day to give us a hand with sorting presents and cleaning the train up in between runs. This might not be the most exciting job in the world (who doesn’t think of wiping down tables and hoovering carpets when they imagine heritage railway work?) but for these Travel and Tourism students it was a helpful bit of real-world work experience in the true nature of the tourism industry: Messy and chaotic, but always rewarding! Most importantly of all, they got to log a few hours’ experience towards their courses. We got some much-appreciated assistance on our busiest trains of the year. A true win-win for everybody!
A huge thanks
A huge thanks to every student who helped us out, and to the SERC for facilitating this arrangement. We hope this will be the first of many future collaborations over the coming years. If you’re involved in post-16 education – as a teacher, student, or SLT – and think your school or college could benefit from a similar arrangement with us, do get in touch. We are always happy to help support the development of young people in the Downpatrick area. We will happily work with you to provide your students with valuable work experience and skills.
