On 1 September last year, more than 1,000 hostages—the majority children—were seized by Chechen separatists at a Russian school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan during a ceremony to mark the first day of term. Two days later, the situation took an even more tragic turn when explosives planted by the hostage-takers went off inside the school and Russian special forces stormed the building. An estimated 330 schoolchildren, teachers and parents died in the siege.
The massacre generated worldwide condemnation and the disturbing images on our television screens and in our newspapers moved everyone, including South West Trains employees, who decided to do their bit to help the people of Beslan.
“We saw the pictures and read the stories and wanted to do something for the families caught up in the siege,” says Dave Park, Station Supervisor at Bournemouth. “Over the last few years I’ve helped to organise three sponsored walks to support different charities and this year we decided that all the money raised should go to help the victims in this devastated town.”
On 23 October last year, Dave and three of his South West Trains colleagues—Jan Stagg, Duty Station Manager at Bournemouth, John Donoghue, Revenue Protection Inspector at Bournemouth, and Bob Crutchfield, Duty Station Manager at Salisbury—pulled on their walking boots and set off at 08:00 for a foot-blistering
18-mile coastal walk, from Hengistbury Head near Christchurch in Dorset to Sandbanks and back.
“The conditions couldn’t have been worse,” laughs Bob. “We had torrential rain, gale-force winds and crashing waves in the background. Nevertheless, we set a good pace, returning at 13:00, and felt a great sense of achievement at the end.”
page 1 of 2 
