Danny Hawkins has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queens Birthday Honors list for his incredible work with local schools and charities after creating an educational program for school children which aims to keep children safe near the railway.

Danny was formerly a station manager at Stratford and Ebbsfleet, but is now at Network Rail High Speed as a Facilities Delivery Manager.

He worked directly with local schools alongside the British Transport Police to build the program, which included eight local schools and around 200 children getting to visit the HS1 stations, providing a positive and memorable experience for those children.

Danny also worked on a Health and Wellbeing award scheme, including the creation of a reflection space for prayer, or a moment of peace and quiet when needed by the travelling public.

He also created a Management Development course to help station teams see their own potential and giving them essential life skills such as CV building and interview techniques.

Danny said: “I’m really proud to receive this award and big thanks to the people that nominated me. Thanks especially to the teams in Ebbsfleet and Stratford who came together to help make a real difference to the lives of many local people. Congratulations too to the other Network Rail winners, John, Rajinder and Simon on their awards.”

Anthony Barnes, Managing Director (Interim) of Network Rail High Speed, said: “I’m really happy to see that Danny has been recognised for all of the hard work and effort he put into local schools and the community during his time as station manager. He went above and beyond to educate local children about the dangers of the railway which is so important in this industry. His work to improve the health and wellbeing of those around him is outstanding, well done, Danny.”