Date: 20 Aug 2008 16:22
Wycombe Wanderers’ midfielder Matty Bloomfield has teamed up with Network Rail and Chiltern Railways to fire home a summer holiday reminder about the dangers of trespassing or mucking about on the railway.
As the new football season kicks off, Matty tells www.no-messin.com, in an exclusive video interview, all about how he got started in football, what motivates him and what got him on the right path to success. He’s also put through his paces in a training ground quick fire interview where he reveals who he thinks is the best manager in the Premiership, his earliest memory, and more importantly, is he a ketchup or brown sauce man? The website has recently been revamped with new content including videos to try and get young people to regularly visit the site and take in the safety messages.
Every year dozens of people are killed or seriously injured on the railway by taking short cuts or even using the track as a guide home. In 2007, 120 incidents of trespass and vandalism were recorded between Aylesbury and Harrow on the Hill and High Wycombe and Denham on the Chiltern route, with High Wycombe and Aylesbury topping the rail crime hotspot table. However, as it is impossible to capture every incident, the true number is estimated to be much higher, running into the 1000s each year.
Recorded incidents of trespass and vandalism in the area include:
• placing objects on the line to obstruct trains including stones, furniture and a wheelie bin
• A piece of timber on a rope hung from a bridge meant to collide with a train
• Throwing objects at trains
• Starting fires
• Running alongside tracks or across lines
• Throwing fireworks at trains
• Spraying graffiti
Matty Bloomfield explains why he’s giving his support for the campaign: "Being a professional footballer is a dream for me, but it didn’t just happen. It could have been easy for me to just muck about with my mates and get into trouble, but I was lucky that I was given a chance to develop my talent and do something that I really love for a career. That’s why the Club and I are supporting No Messin’.
"Together we can show that there are better things to do than hang about on the streets or the railways where you could get into trouble, seriously hurt or much worse. No Messin’ gives you the chance to try something new and who knows; maybe one day you could be playing professional football too."
To learn more about Network Rail’s No Messin' campaign and watch the video interview visit http://www.no-messin.com/videos/
