Pam Warren | How public action can influence governments - a podcast by John A. Ball and guests

Imagine being on your commute to London, the usual crowded train, thinking about what the day ahead holds, wondering if you'll get a chance for a cuppa before you get to the office and then, you hear a crash, get thrown from your seat and wake up about 3 weeks later in hospital with 3rd-degree burns and your loved ones around you, not having known if you would make it. Finding out that 31 people on your train died and you should have been the 32nd. 

I'm not sure that's exactly how my guest's experience played out, but as you'll hear in this episode, it was along these lines. Pam Warren was a survivor of the Paddington Rail crash in October 1999. You wouldn't know it now, thanks to the work of skilful surgeons but Pam's face and body were badly burned. You could imagine that you would want to focus on your recovery and getting your life back. The idea of seeking justice and reforms might not be at the top of your agenda but that's what Pam Warren did. 

After discovering that the rail companies found it cheaper to pay compensation for accidents than make the train network safer, she could not let that stand and together with other survivors, campaigned tirelessly for better train safety.  We will never know how many lives have been saved by Pam's campaigning but we can learn so much from her and the success of the Paddington Survivors Group.

In this episode:

• Pam's personal story of the Paddington crash and what caused it
• The decision and cost of becoming a campaigner for train safety
• The challenges of influencing industry and government
• What Pam learned from previous safety campaigners to know what did and didn't work
• The hardest part about influencing the people at the top of government and industry
• Pam's top skill for influence in meetings with top brass

and much more as always. In what was a delightful conversation around some serious topics I can honestly say it was a privilege to speak with Pam and also find out what led Pam to become a professional speaker. It is always my goal to bring you interesting and informative conversations with experts and this is one occasion when I feel that brief was thoroughly filled.

You can find out more about Pam and her professional speaking work here https://www.pamwarren.co.uk/  Pam's book recommendations were 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker and Leo Tolstoy's 'War & Peace'.

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