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Good morning

Please see our press release below.  I hope you find time to read it and please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or if you require any rail related images.

Kind regards

Kip

Royal National College For The Blind to raise funds through the "Train Tickets for Charity" project.

The Royal National College For the Blind (RNC) will be one of the first charities to join a new community fundraising scheme with Trainsplit, the company behind the innovative "Split- ticketing" website. It will enable their students, staff and supporters to make great savings on rail travel and also help the RNC to raise funds.

With a number of charities being under scrutiny for their fundraising methods it will allow the RNC to attract donations in a responsible and transparent way. The partnership, launched as the rail companies announced their annual increases, means that Trainsplit will provide the RNC with its own online booking facility and will make a donation to the RNC every time someone uses the site to buy rail tickets. The money will be used to support student activities and the purchase of equipment such as laptops. This initiative is an exciting new way of raising essential funds.

It's not just charities that can benefit though as Trainsplit have already been approached by a number of other community groups including schools, clubs, churches and even a local gardening club.

Here's how it works.  Rail travellers can make significant savings by splitting their trip into separate legs on a train journey with stops. A student travelling from the RNC campus in Hereford to Manchester could expect to pay £38.50 for a single ticket but by using Trainsplit they could make the same journey for £20.00 - a saving of 48%. Rail goers in the know have been travelling in this way for years and the new Trainsplit booking site means they can now enjoy these savings with one simple transaction.  If Trainsplit do not find a split ticket saving the college will still benefit from any standard ticket booking. The site does not charge credit card fees either.

This is the first of what is expected to be a number of partnerships as Trainsplit roll out their "Train Tickets for Charity" project.

Alice Spivey, Corporate Marketing & Fundraising at the RNC said:

"We are really pleased that Trainsplit are working with us. Not only will it reduce the money we are spending on rail travel but our extended network of friends and supporters will also benefit from the savings and will be helping to support the college at the same time".

Kip Parker, Co-ordinator for the Train Tickets for Charity project said:"The RNC does an amazing job and every pound they save on rail travel can go towards helping their students move into further education or employment. We are also really pleased that what started out as a charity fundraising project is also going to help community groups of all sizes".

Notes For Editors. 

The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is the UK's leading further education college for those aged 16-65 with a visual impairment. They provide academic and vocational qualifications as well as specialist learning and residential support to empower their students and trainees to move into further education, employment, self-employment and independent living.

Established in 1872 the College offers a variety of products and services to its 120 or so learners. They also offer specialist training and support to businesses, universities and other education providers, and specialist professionals working with visually impaired people.

The RNC is a beacon for people with a variety of visual impairments to increase their independence, build confidence and to learn academically, vocationally and socially. For more information please contact Alice Spivey on 01432 376621 or email her at alice.spivey@rnc.ac.uk

Trainsplit are part of Raileasy who have been retailing train tickets on-line since 2007. Raileasy are a fully accredited third party ATOC (the Association of Train Operating Companies) license holder.  For more information or an interview with a Raileasy Executive please contact Kip Parker on 0771 333 0280 or email him at kip@kipstermedia.co.uk  or contact Trainsplit direct athttps://raileasy.trainsplit.com/contact.aspx