Three employees of Network Rail have been recognised in King Charles III’s New Year’s Honours List for their outstanding contributions to the railway and the charity and voluntary sectors.

Nick Millington is an interim route director for the Wales and Borders route and has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to the railway, charity and the NHS.
When the NHS Nightingale Hospitals were being set up at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Nick volunteered to help the NHS and the British Army with their creation by coordinating an army of volunteers that worked 24×7 to covert a former DIY store in Exeter into the region’s new Nightingale Hospital. He was then instrumental in setting up a large-scale vaccination centre in Exeter.

He is also a volunteer with the Permanent Way Institution (PWI), including serving as its president for 12 months, and has championed diversity and equality, and has led Network Rail’s ‘Safety Task Force’ which works to improve the safety of all track workers, resulting in a 99% reduction in the highest types of risk work over the last three years, and a 70% reduction in ‘near misses’ and ‘potential fatalities’ between track workers and trains.

Nick is also a Run Director at the Exmouth Park Run, including completing over 100 Park Runs himself, and is an active Mental Health Champion for which he comes up with fundraising ideas, including running the London Marathon, and with his team raising over £250,000 for Network Rail’s nominated charity partner, CLIC Sargent.

Nick Millington MBE said: “I feel truly privileged to be recognised by His Majesty the King in the New Year’s Honours list. I would especially like to thank the teams who have worked alongside me, whether that be in a voluntary or professional capacity, because without such great people, many of these achievements would not have been possible.

“Helping others in need has always been a huge honour for me, especially during times of crisis and it gives me great satisfaction to know that I’ve made a real difference to improving the lives of others”.

Stephanie Hart is an End User Computer Lead with Network Rail and has been awarded an MBE for her work to create Network Rail’s ‘Laptops for Schools’ programme that helps underprivileged children to access education.

When Network Rail was rolling out new computers, Stephanie realised there was a chance to give something back to the community by donating the old laptops to schoolchildren. On top of her day-to-day role and in her own time she worked to make the programme happen.

Stephanie promoted the scheme throughout Network Rail and encouraged people to return their old laptops for the programme. Nominations came in for 740 schools, with the successful ones being selected via a lottery process. Data security was at the forefront before the laptops could be donated, and wiping old laptops is a lengthy process. So far 110 schools have benefitted, with over 6,000 laptops already given away, with the ultimate aim being to donate a minimum of 8,000 devices by the end of the programme.

Stephanie Hart MBE said: “I am incredibly humbled and proud to be recognised in the New Year’s Honours list. The Laptops for Schools project was many years in the making and everything fell into place at the right time during the Covid-19 pandemic to start to distribute the laptops to schools. Everyone has been so supportive from my team, others in different routes and regions and also the senior executive team.

“The Laptops for Schools programme has now been built into the future sustainability framework within Network Rail so that it’s something we can continue to do for years to come.

“The schools and children have been incredibly grateful to receive the devices and was a huge part in helping children continue to learn from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to help the schools for years to come hoping to help more children with their IT skills.”

Mark Bridel is Regional Freight Manager for Network Rail’s Eastern region and has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his fundraising in support of Martin House Children’s Hospice, which provides free care for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses across West, North and East Yorkshire.

For over four years Mark has been fundraising for the charity, and leads on the operational elements of organising charter trains for the hospice. That includes arranging the train’s routes, planning the tours, and coordinating with train operating companies to ensure the tours run smoothly.

Mark negotiates access to sites with external companies, which may be power stations, ports or quarries, so that the tours can run without affecting the site operations. He is also each tour’s on-board contact to ensure it runs smoothly, which for some tours can be up to four days. So far the team running the tours has raised nearly £200,000 for the hospice, and with Mark’s continued help this year they hope to raise a further £100,000.

Mark Bridel BEM said: “It was a wonderfully unexpected and truly humbling surprise to be honoured with a BEM for my part in a small team who organise charity rail charters raising funds for Martin House. The circa £200k we have raised for the hospice over the last 4 years has been an exhilarating ride and we have a programme of charter trains planned for 2023 with which we aim to add at least another £75k to the total as a result.
“The ability to utilise the relationships built over the years within the freight team at Network Rail has provided an amazing conduit to open access to locations where it would not normally be possible to run a passenger train and this is the main driver for the fantastic totals we have been able to raise for the hospice with visits to the likes of Drax Power Station, Hitachi manufacturing at Heighington and many other facilities around the Eastern Region and beyond.”

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “I’d like to give a massive congratulations to Nick, Stephanie and Mark for this well-deserved recognition of their outstanding efforts.

“It’s wonderful to see colleagues lending their time, expertise and determination to good causes and making a meaningful difference to the communities we serve across the country. We are all proud to call them our colleagues and I am delighted they’ve been honoured.”