Wrapping up the perfect charity donation

Thursday 14 February

First Great Western has donated over 200 blankets from its Night Riviera sleeper service to help the homeless of Cornwall.

Back in November 2012, FGW updated the old fashioned blankets provided on board the service for modern day duvets and now, having been collected and cleaned, they have been split between two Cornwall charities.

FGW's Vince Nichols, Depot Manager of Longrock Depot where the sleeper service is based, came up with the idea and said:

"Chatting with Big Issue sellers I discovered that St Petroc's is their lifeline in helping the homeless to get back into the community. They provide a roof over your head and a means to earn your own money - a lot of the things we take for granted.

"When we visited St Petrocs we saw this for ourselves, and a number of their staff are out on cold watch tonight, checking on rough sleepers - our blankets will be a great help."
Vince had the old blankets stockpiled and then delivered them by hand to Oxfam in Penzance and the St Petroc’s Society, a housing and accommodation support service, in Truro.

One of only two overnight ‘sleeper’ services in the country, The Night Riviera operates between London Paddington and Penzance and offers two types of accommodation on board, a single cabin or a twin cabin.