Modellers And Accurascale Raise £10,000 for Samaritans UK With Freightliner UK Support

A cheque for the five figure sum was handed over to a representative of Samaritans UK, Richard Hall, at Doncaster International Railport Terminal.

Launched at Pete Waterman's “Making Tracks” 2023 Christmas exhibition at Blakemere, Accurascale announced the limited edition model of 66415 'You Are Never Alone', with the aim of raising a large sum for Samaritans UK. As it is becoming very clear, modellers are very supportive of these charity projects, backing the model of 66415 with huge sales via the Accurascale website. The models were delivered to customers earlier this summer, so it was time to pay a visit to the Freightliner Depot in Doncaster to unite the model with the real 66 415, very kindly taken out of traffic by Freightliner UK for the day, and hand over the cheque of the funds raised.

To mark the event, Accurascale representatives were joined by Tim Shoveller, Freightliner Chief Executive Officer of G&W UK/Europe. Commenting on the fundraiser, Tim stated; "We couldn't do this without the support we've had from Accurascale, This has only been possible because of the partnership that's been formed. Accurascale has produced these incredibly detailed models and sold hundreds and hundreds of them to raise £10,000 for Samaritans, which is wonderful! We couldn't do this on our own, as always about the railway, it's about partnership and collaboration."

Richard Hall, a Listening volunteer from Samaritans, also joined Accurascale and Freightliner to formally accept the handover of funds, and explained what's involved in being able to be on the end of the phone for someone in need. Motivated to help Samaritans after the loss of friends and working for Network rail in the day job, Richard knows only too well the effect of mental illness.

Richard said "We're a listening organisation, people call up, talk about what's going on in their lives, what problems they're facing. We can talk them through it, explore the issues, potentially signpost, provide emotional support and give them someone to vent to when that person might not have anyone to talk to. The donation of £10,000 will go along long way to keeping the lights on, keeping the water running, it's really, really important!"

Fran Burke, Director of Marketing, PR and Sales for Accurascale, added; "We have been absolutely blown away by the support of you, our Accurascale customers and supporters, who came together, dug deep, and helped us reach our goal of raising an amazing £10,000 for this critically important charity. It's been a pleasure to work alongside our friends at Freightliner UK, our factory partners, the Railnuts gang for facilitating our initial launch and of course, The Samaritans to make this happen. We cannot thank these parties enough.

We hope that modellers around the country who got their hands on this exclusive model can not only enjoy running the locomotive on their layouts or admiring it in their collection, but also enjoy the fact that money they spent in obtaining the model is supporting a very worthy cause. This money will help Samaritans UK to continue to provide the essential services they offer the British public including railway workers around the nation."

The whole team at Accurascale would like to pass on their thanks to Samaritans UK, Freightliner and of course, the generosity and support of the British railway modelling public, who dug deep and bought 66 415. Further charity collaborations will be offered by Accurascale via their website as part of the “Accurascale Exclusives” range, with the aim of raising much needed funds for a variety of worthy causes.