The Godwin Lawson Foundation was set up to commemorate the life of Godwin Lawson who tragically lost his life to an unprovoked knife attack whilst helping his friends. The charity hopes to educate young people, so they can develop their capability to be members of a tolerant society.

GM East have chosen to support the Godwin Lawson Foundation as we pride ourselves in our diverse workforce that represents the local areas that our trains travel through. Due to the postcode gang affiliation, there is often genuine fear to venture into different areas of the borough or London. Arriva Rail London proudly transports passengers to new opportunities whether that be work, study or leisure. GM East encompasses a number of London boroughs which have acute issues with knife crime and gang affiliation.

During the partnership between GM East and the Godwin Lawson Foundation, we will organise small and large fundraising activities that we will combine raising awareness of the Godwin Lawson Foundation and their goals of promoting awareness of social issues and cultural diversity.

We hope to get involved in mentoring youngsters to demonstrate a life outside of gangs and what is possible to achieve in terms of potential future employment with Arriva Rail London. The charity also believes that the use of sport and activities outside of London can assist with combating area rivalry so we are looking to get involvement with football and cricket events and also with an organised walk in the mountains of Snowdonia, so the youngsters can experience a different aspect to life as an alternative to their usual environment.

The first major event we are to carry out is a Station to Station walk which teams of staff and volunteers will visit every station on the GM East network on the 17th July 2019. Not only are we hoping to raise significant funds but we are hoping to demonstrate the vision of the charity and ourselves that we are connected not just by a train service but a common goal of acceptance and tolerance for one another.

All donations are welcome