Mother’s Day: Eastbourne mum and daughter share their thoughts on working together

Karen and Louise Shearing, who work for Southern Rail, are hoping to see each other at work on Sunday, March 19, for Mother’s Day.

The pair come from a family of rail enthusiasts, with Karen’s mother-in-law working at Bishopstone station in the 1970s and her brother working as a train driver.

Karen, who is an on-board supervisor, said: “It was about 17 years ago that I spotted an advert in the local paper to be a conductor. It was quite a big decision as I’d spent 18 years out of work to bring up my three children, but once they became more independent I wanted to focus on me and my career.

“What I love about the railway is that every day is different. You get to go out and meet people and it helps that I work with a brilliant team here at Eastbourne. My daughter Louise was working in an admin job that she didn’t really enjoy, so when I saw a vacancy come up in our roster team I encouraged her to apply.”

Louise, who joined the railway in 2013, has worked her way up to become a driver manager after a short stint in station management.

She said: “It was quite strange starting a job where everyone knew my mum, but I’ve managed to forge a career in my own right. Although we cross paths a lot at work, we stick to our day jobs and separate responsibilities so we’re not in each other’s pockets.

“We’re hoping to see each other this Mother’s Day, but sometimes it can be hard to plan around our work schedules. As we both work shifts, we have to wait until our rosters come out to know whether we have any days off together – but we’re lucky that we can bump into each other at work too as some people find it really hard to spend time with their family.”

A hotel on Eastbourne seafront is set to host it’s annual ‘remembering your mum’ event on Mother’s Day.

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