“Sustainability Week affords us the opportunity to put a focus on being a responsible business.”

3 March 2023

Melanie Hockenhull, Head of Sustainability at Avanti West Coast, explains why putting a focus on sustainability will encourage small changes that can make a real difference amongst local communities.

This week at Avanti West Coast we’re hosting Sustainability Week 2023 – a campaign designed to get our people and customers talking, thinking, and, most importantly, acting on sustainable development.

Hosting a Sustainability Week affords us the opportunity to put a focus on being a responsible business and get our people and customers enthused, engaged, and motivated. It provides a platform to showcase the goals we’re working towards and what we’ve already achieved.

This could be working with a UK-based manufacturer who are producing sustainable carpets for our refurbished Pendolino trains, to launching an industry-first communications channel for disabled customers or giving schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds experiences they may never otherwise have had.

As a Sustainability Team we have expertise in environment, social value and responsibility, diversity and inclusion, accessibility, as well as community. We’re here as advisors to empower colleagues and give them the tools to do something that can deliver a sustainable outcome. We want everyone to have the opportunity to help us make our operation as sustainable as we can. By making this a priority focus, it should spark conversation, inspire action, and encourage individuals to reflect on what it means to them.

"We’re here as advisors to empower colleagues and give them the tools to do something that can deliver a sustainable outcome."

More than 60 of our employees volunteer as Avanti West Coast Green and Community champions to lead activities and initiatives that support our Responsible Plan – our 10-year sustainability strategy. They have the local knowledge and skills to drive our sustainability agenda forward – whether it’s creating a bee-friendly space at a station or giving children an opportunity to learn something new.

This week our champions have been invited to an internal conference to understand how we can make continued improvements. We want them to look ahead by acting on something that matters to them, whether that’s our planet, people, customers, or communities. With each of our champions having their own goals to deliver, we hope it will inspire others to make a difference.

To achieve our Responsible Plan, it relies on a commitment from each of us, which is why Sustainability Week is a useful reminder that everyone is responsible, while encouraging people to ask questions, and think differently.

To read our Responsible Plan and find out more about sustainability at Avanti West Coast, visit: https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/about-us/sustainability

Images (Top to bottom): Melanie Hockenhull, Head of Sustainability at Avanti West Coast; Children celebrate World Book Day with a reading session at Runcorn; Avanti West Coast Community Champion, Amelia Bateman, hosts an outdoor activity for World Bee Day; A to Z of Wiganese mural at Wigan North Western station.