LNER Delivers Christmas For Evelyn

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has helped deliver Christmas to three-year-old Evelyn Barker from Leuchars in Scotland.

Evelyn’s only Christmas wish this year was for a teddy bear. When members of her family based in Yorkshire contacted LNER to ask for help getting Evelyn’s Christmas present to her in Scotland, the LNER Social Media team swung into action with bear-ly any time to spare.

The family members in Leeds, Emma Barker and James Hamer had bought the bear as a Christmas present but with the latest travel restrictions introduced this month, they were unable to deliver the gift in person.

The bear joined the LNER 07:35 Azuma service from York to Aberdeen on Tuesday 22 December to make the 181-mile journey in under four hours to arrive in Leuchars at 11:28.

Evelyn’s parents met the LNER crew as the Azuma train glided into Leuchars with the very special delivery in good time for Christmas Day.

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “We are thrilled we’ve been able to help make Christmas truly very special for Evelyn this year when her family, like so many others, were unable to travel to be together.

“In what has been a challenging time for all of us, I’m proud our teams were able to help sprinkle some Christmas magic and will hopefully make many people smile.”

Evelyn is yet to name the bear, which is more than five feet tall and carried a special note around its neck about the journey.

Evelyn’s Dad, Major Tim Barker, said: “We received a message from Auntie Emma and Uncle James in Leeds telling us to get to Leuchars Station to meet the train. We couldn’t believe it when we saw the bear emerge from the First Class carriage with the help of the onboard crew.”

Evelyn’s Mum, Emily Barker, said: “We are so impressed and amazed LNER made this happen for us. All Evelyn wanted for Christmas was a bear and we didn’t think it would happen until the team at LNER offered to help. We can’t wait to see Evelyn’s reaction on Christmas Day.”

LNER is operating mandatory seat reservation on all services with enhanced cleaning measures in place to help keep all customers, colleagues and bears safe.