# Trainline uses its social media channels to promote charities during coronavirus

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/05/01/trainline-uses-its-social-media-channels-to-promote-charities-during-coronavirus/
- Published: 2020-05-01T09:46:02+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Train and coach app Trainline is putting its social media channels to extra use
during the coronavirus period by highlighting the work of charities.**

With rail and coach journeys at minimal levels during the coronavirus lockdown period,
Trainline’s social team don’t have as many passenger enquiries or updates to handle.
But it does still have an audience of users, skilled staff and a clear desire to
make the most of this opportunity.

So the company has started highlighting a different charity each day on its Twitter(
53,600+ followers) and Facebook (295,000 followers) accounts.

## Advertisement

> This was a great message to ping into my inbox today. Thanks [@thetrainline](https://twitter.com/thetrainline?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#charities](https://twitter.com/hashtag/charities?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#support](https://twitter.com/hashtag/support?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#charityheros](https://twitter.com/hashtag/charityheros?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/dTO92qbJJ4](https://t.co/dTO92qbJJ4)
> — Emma-Louise Singh (@emmalouiserob) [April 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/emmalouiserob/status/1255807793094889472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## National Emergency Trust Coronavirus appeal

It started this approach on 9 April when it announced that it was supporting the
National Emergency Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal.

> While helping our customers remains top of our list, we're doing what we can to
> support national efforts to tackle coronavirus by donating to [#NETCoronavirusAppeal](https://twitter.com/hashtag/NETCoronavirusAppeal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).
> Find out more: [https://t.co/T9gqBBWSfX](https://t.co/T9gqBBWSfX) [pic.twitter.com/LKeKfsifof](https://t.co/LKeKfsifof)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 9, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1248237443050061825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

On 24 April it followed this up by a whole thread on the appeal and some of the 
organisations that were benefiting from it:

> Tilehouse Counselling, Hertfordshire, have used a grant of £566.75 to purchase
> telephone headsets to facilitate remote professional counselling support
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1253645738703310850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

It isn’t just announcing charity names and sums awarded: it is explaining some of
the issues tackled by these charities and faced by their service users:

> Many service users are migrants with no access to welfare benefits and with insecure
> immigration status.
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 24, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1253645745997176833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## Individual charities

This week they stepped up their activity by highlighting individual charities, and
inviting nominations from their users of other charities that they might profile.

 

### Devon and Somerset Air Ambulance

Trainline operates nationally and in Europe, so it is attempting to profile charities
operating in different parts of the UK. First up was Devon and Somerset Air Ambulance.

> To the life savers zipping through the clouds and their network on the ground 
> making sure people can get to critical care fast. Thank you. [#charityspotlight](https://twitter.com/hashtag/charityspotlight?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> a thread… [pic.twitter.com/1MaERsygnM](https://t.co/1MaERsygnM)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255191660553744384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

Each charity is the subject of a thread of messages, covering a range of different
issues, and calls to action.

> Like many other charities, their fundraising has been seriously affected by COVID-
> 19.
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255191666052472834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Trainline is even highlighting fundraising events:

> It’s not dampened their spirits though, and instead, they’ve moved their annual
> fundraising Coast to Coast challenge online. You can support them and stay active
> by joining in, here are the details – [https://t.co/ZgitCrXOkh](https://t.co/ZgitCrXOkh)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255191667407302656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

They even signed off by inviting followers to tag other critical care charities 
across the UK with details of where they are based “so our followers know how to
support them”. 

> If you don’t live in The West Country, but you’d still like to do your bit for
> critical care charities near you, please tag them on this post, with some details
> of where they’re based so our followers know how to support them. [#C2CVirtualChallenge](https://twitter.com/hashtag/C2CVirtualChallenge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#DSAA55Miles](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DSAA55Miles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#DSAA11Milles](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DSAA11Milles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255191668992675841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

### St Martin’s

The next charity to feature in Trainline’s charity spotlight is St Martins, the 
Norfolk homelessness charity.

> To the charities and their volunteers making sure homeless people are supported
> through thick and thin. Thank you.[#charityspotlight](https://twitter.com/hashtag/charityspotlight?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> a thread… [pic.twitter.com/Ol6xZHf9jo](https://t.co/Ol6xZHf9jo)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255908519729119233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

Again, they published a whole thread on the work of St Martins, concluding with 
a request that followers tag other homelessness charities near them to highlight
their work.

> If you don’t live in Norfolk, but you’d still like to do your bit for the homeless
> charities near you, please tag them on this post, with some details of where they’re
> based so our followers know where to go. [#morethanahome](https://twitter.com/hashtag/morethanahome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [#wewillgetthroughthis](https://twitter.com/hashtag/wewillgetthroughthis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 30, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1255908526742011905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

Here is the coverage on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/trainline.uk/posts/2943288775754256?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCVyjLAh4xFq_5pSWBcI7vmAkFiIoCO2CKMTR8vO8ql4ZEZ6DHU_I4Df4s4n8PsK5QNb3QVwsuhvsysYiTfzKoKTDKfNlSeaH8CRsQEe8dLRCFzK8jOnvmrFNQmRfMRoZHcMBRN6ee15cGYNrHBcLQ2IgT9jjkcTAscvGAgzc8n5hE1KW-
1qoeVhrDe71f_X2OANMnnULuzWyDpgIuinxaMYqwHFHCv0wmW1I0UUCMYP2jSlwf_EJZDvkxpam-zWEu00mqDLf5TlzLYwbMldGT_5wSROZ9Ky0vurntpaPybF9QNcPxBxu5dGG9g9Vwd7GV9Z3w3JhuYSLBRy9tfFlNsEw&
__tn__=-R

 

## Why this is significant

Plenty of companies use their social channels to promote their charity partnerships,
but this is the first example we’ve spotted of a company setting out to highlight
a range of charities to make the most of its limited. This stands out because Trainline
is:

 * dedicating a thread to each charity
 * raising the issues that a charity deals with
 * promoting one of the charity’s fundraising events
 * linking to specific areas or information on the charity’s site, not just its 
   front page
 * inviting their followers to share and highlight other related charities in their
   area.

It’s a model that could of course easily be replicated by many other companies who
find they don’t have quite the variety of social media updates that they normally
do, but still have an audience.

Indeed, given Trainline is one of the many companies that is taking part in the 
[Posters for the People](https://postersforthepeople.co.uk/) initiative of sharing
artwork with positive messaging, perhaps some of those brands will emulate Trainline’s
approach.

> To the train drivers up at 4am, shuttling hospital workers to and from their shifts…
> Your nocturnal life helps others save lives.
> Thank you. [pic.twitter.com/0f44JCDEQi](https://t.co/0f44JCDEQi)
> — trainline (@thetrainline) [April 23, 2020](https://twitter.com/thetrainline/status/1253368257622560769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## More good corporate news

If you need some another example of a company making creative and positive use of
its resources during coronavirus lockdown, here’s Boots:

> Coronavirus lockdown: Boots offers safe space for domestic abuse victims: [https://t.co/6loVooo4wb](https://t.co/6loVooo4wb)
> — Howard Lake (@howardlake) [May 1, 2020](https://twitter.com/howardlake/status/1256133847470743552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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