BRIGHTER TOMORROWS, POWERED BY UK RAIL
For more than two decades, The Railway Ball has been the rail industry’s flagship charity event. A unique night that unites organisations across UK rail to protect vulnerable children worldwide. Proving that the rail sector’s impact reaches far beyond the network, it transforms lives.
WHO WE ARE
Railway Children believes no child should ever face danger alone. Across the UK, India and Tanzania, they protect children at transport hubs, support families in crisis, strengthen safeguarding across rail, influence national systems and empower young people to shape safer futures. Together with rail, they’re changing what’s possible.
OUR IMPACT
Supporting the Railway Ball isn’t just giving, it’s taking action. You help stop exploitation early, rebuild families, open doors to education and give vulnerable children safety and hope. This is your impact. This is your legacy.
WHAT WE DO
Your support means Railway Children can step in the moment a child becomes vulnerable. Last year alone, you helped protect 5,600 children, train 8,284 transport staff, reach 1,891 children in Tanzania, return 214 children in India to school and provide specialist mental health support to 167 young people in the UK. These aren’t numbers, they’re futures rewritten.
£6500,000 + RAISED LAST YEAR BY UK RAIL
2025, A LANDMARK YEAR FOR RAIL. A LIFELINE YEAR FOR CHILDREN.
The Railway Ball 2025 didn’t just deliver spectacle. It has a real impact. In a year when fundraising was tougher than ever, the industry rose to the challenge, raising an astonishing £650,000 for Railway Children. Smashing the forecast and proving that rail’s reach goes far beyond the tracks.
Catch up on our 2025 highlights here.
£500,000 + RAISED AT HIGH SCHOOL PROM
2024, A NIGHT THAT CHANGED THOUSANDS OF TOMORROWS
What a night, what a year, what a difference you’ve made! The Railway Ball 2024 raised an incredible £500,000+ for Railway Children, and we couldn’t have done it without YOU – our incredible rail industry family.
Catch up on our 2024 highlights here.
WITH YOUR SUPPORT
WE ARE TRANSFORMING LIVES
Learn how funds raised make a meaningful impact on children's lives in India, Tanzania and the UK.
SHELTER & CARE
For vulnerable children, ensuring they have a safe place to live and receive support.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Education and vocational training programmes, empowering children with skills for a better future.
HEALTHCARE & NUTRITION
Essential healthcare services and nutrition programmes to improve the well-being of children.
FAMILY REINTEGRATION
Reuniting children with their families, providing transportation and ongoing support.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
Psychological and emotional support services, aiding in the healing and resilience of traumatised children.
PREVENTION & ADVOCACY
Essential healthcare services and nutrition programmes to improve the well-being of children.
CHANGING LIVES
RAILWAY CHILDREN
Railway Children supports vulnerable children alone and at risk on the streets and at transport hubs; leading change and building brighter futures across the world.
Railway Children believes in a world where no child ever has to live on the streets. In India, Tanzania and the UK, we’re helping vulnerable children at risk on the streets and across transport networks to rewrite their future. Railway Children is dedicated to helping vulnerable children living alone and at risk on the streets, providing essential services such as shelter, education, healthcare and family reintegration.
Railway Children’s approach finds the very best solutions and practices to break the cycles of abuse, neglect and family breakdown and keep children safe. For good.
They focus on four key action areas for change to protect the most vulnerable children, before during and after they are lost to the streets:
- Protecting vulnerable children & supporting their families
- Strengthening community responses
- Strengthening child protection systems and policies
- Strengthening the evidence base
At the heart of this is a focus and dedication to collaborating with others and the development of contextual safeguarding solutions, to protect all young people from harm and abuse.
Since Railway Children was established in 1996, they’ve worked hand-in-hand with key partners – bringing together transport police, rail authorities, government stakeholders, train operating companies, all their staff and passengers to help.