Demelza unveils new wheelchair ramp | Latest News

During Children’s Hospice Week Network Rail and Balfour Beatty unveiled the new wheelchair ramp at Demelza Kent, giving children who use wheelchairs direct access to our beautiful gardens. Network Rail and its suppliers also gave a generous donation of £3,500. Network Rail and Beatty Balfour were keen to give something back to our Kent hospice following the major construction project in Bobbing to get to grips with a landslip on the line to London.

Tim Richardson, Demelza’s Operation Manager said: “It’s fantastic that we’ve now got a ramp for those children who are wheelchair-users to directly access the gardens. This is something we’ve wanted to do for a couple of years and it’s not something we’ve been able to put the pennies towards in recent times. To get this opportunity has been absolutely fantastic for us.”

Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, said: “I’m so grateful for Demelza’s understanding and support of our teams this winter. We had to do a great deal of work at very short notice, with colleagues and machinery all descending on Bobbing, and it meant a lot to have the backing of the hospice. It means even more to be able to help them back.”

Chris Ottley, from Balfour Beatty, said: “This is brilliant opportunity for us and we’re really pleased to be involved in the communities near where we work. Lots of the people who work for us are local to Kent and this charity has a place in many of their hearts. The company has a volunteering policy so it’s easy for us to do and we were delighted that some of our supply chain, such as Seva rail contributed as well.”

To find out more about corporate volunteering opportunities please get in touch with our corporate partnership team.