THE largest rail operator in the UK has teamed up with a cancer charity for an appeal which will run from today.

Northern Rail and fundraisers from Marie Curie have joined forces for the Great Daffodil Appeal 2014 which will be held for a month to raise cash through the sale of daffodil pins.

Now bosses at the rail company are encouraging employees to donate an hour of their time to sell daffodil pins to customers at Northern Rail-run stations.

Employees are also hoping to raise awareness of the campaign by wearing specially designed daffodil badges and putting posters up at stations and on trains.

“We are delighted to support Marie Curie and the work the charity does to provide essential nursing care for people with a terminal illness,” explained Alex Hynes, Managing Director of Northern Rail.

“Every community in our network is covered by the Marie Curie nursing service and last year it provided more than 10,000 people across our region with specialist nursing care.

“We manage hundreds of stations, so we can give our customers and our employees the chance to make a difference to this fantastic charity to help people in our communities and their loved ones, during the precious final days.”

The appeal will last until the end of March. The 2013 appeal raised over £7million and bosses hope to beat that this year.

“We are thrilled that Northern Rail has chosen to support Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal, our biggest annual fundraising event, and we are grateful to have the support of Northern’s staff and customers,” said Arun Sharma, Head of Corporate and Commercial Fundraising at Marie Curie.

“The vital funds raised by the partnership will help Marie Curie nurses across the region provide more care to people with terminal illnesses in their own homes.”

For more information visit www.northernrail.org/daffodilappeal or text ‘DAFF’ to 70111 to donate £3.