Railway staff complete run to raise money for Cosy Coats charity

A team of rail industry colleagues, led by Network Rail’s Wessex route director, Mark Goodall, recently completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon, raising vital funds in aid of charity Cosy Coats.

The rail industry team consisting of Mark Goodall; Laura Heath, Network Rail’s Southern region Programme Manager; Deborah Pike, Network Rail Performance Process Specialist; Zeb Butt, Network Rail Security Assurance Analyst; Tara Walsh, Network Rail Customer Account Manager, and Eleni Jordan, Commercial and Customer Director at C2C, partnered with a group of teachers and have so far raised a combined £8,436 for the Cosy Coats charity, which Mark Goodall founded in 2020.

Mark completed the course in two hours and 15 minutes while Laura broke the sub two-hour mark, crossing the line in one hour and 50 minutes.

Following completing the half marathon, Mark commented: “I’m delighted to have completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon and raised vital funds for Cosy Coats, a charity very dear to my heart.

“It has been several years since I ran any significant distance and even with my training, it was a very tough challenge. However, the thought of a child in need without a warm coat on their back really drove me on and I’m so pleased with the near £8,000 we’ve already raised which will go such a long way in purchasing new coats that will bring both warmth and self-esteem to those children who most need it.

“I’m so grateful to my Network Rail colleagues and teachers who joined me in tackling this half marathon and kindly ask if anyone is willing to sponsor us, no matter the amount, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Cosy Coats works with schools and other organisations to identify children and families in need of new coats. The children identified can choose a coat of choice from high street provider such as Next or Marks & Spencer which ensures they are wearing a coat they are proud of, and something that is new and theirs. Most of the time, children never find out that a charity purchased their coat.

Since launching the charity in 2020, Cosy Coats has provided nearly 1,000 coats for children at over 100 schools. Two years ago, Mark opened a pop-up shop at Birmingham New Street station in the hope of ‘selling’ the 22 coats he had bought in the space of a week. The generosity of the public saw to it that he had sold out within just a little over three hours, requiring him to go and purchase some more that evening.

Since then the charity has continued to grow – in 2023 it provided coats for around 400 children – and last October, Mark ran another pop up-shop in Birmingham, again selling all of the coats available.