East Midlands Railway (EMR) has donated  surplus kitchen equipment to Roundabout, a homeless charity based in Sheffield.

The operator previously used the five hundred pieces of equipment, including frying pans, colanders, oven trays, serving spoons, and bowls, on its high speed train (HST) fleet, which was retired from service two years ago.

The Class 43 HSTs dominated the Midland Mainline for thirty-nine years,  running from London St Pancras to destinations including Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield and Leeds, and making occasional trips to Lincoln Central, Skegness, York and Scarborough.

Between 1982 to 2021, the HSTs travelled millions of miles, under operators British Rail (1982-1996), Midland Mainline (1996-2007), East Midlands Trains (2007-2019) and East Midlands Railway (2019-2021).

Youth housing charity Roundabout will use the equipment to help young people in and around Sheffield when they move into accommodation.

Roundabout is South Yorkshire‘s local youth housing charity. It provides shelter, support and life skills to young people aged 16 to 25 who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness.

Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “We are always looking for ways we can support the local communities that we serve.

“Roundabout is an ideal organisation to reuse the kitchen equipment – which I’m sure will be useful when the young people first move into their new homes.”

Emily Bush, Fundraising Manager at Roundabout, said: “We are delighted that East Midlands Railway has made this extremely generous donation. When our young people are setting up home for themselves, they always need the essential basics like crockery, cutlery, and kitchen utensils.

“This very practical gift will really make it a lot easier to provide practical support for young people taking those first and important steps towards independence.”