West Somerset Railway General Discussion

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Err....Item 2 (Objects) of the WSRA's Articles says:-
"The objects of the Association are to promote education in the heritage of the railway from Taunton to Minehead by restoring, preserving and displaying railway locomotives, carriages, wagons and other artefacts (including documents, drawings, photographs, recordings and films) of historical interest and the buildings connected therewith..."
Ok, so not specifically called the WSR by name, but surely its identity is unambiguous?

I would agree with the first sentence, but the second puzzles me. WHY does the WSRA in particular, and perhaps the WSSRT to a lesser extent, need to have 'wider charitable objectives' anyway? Surely what we need, to end all the confusion and complication, is one basic cohesive charity targeted for the WSR - period. Anything else not purely WSR-centric should be completely independent of the railway.

 

Taken from the Charitable objects as given on the Charities Commission website:
TO PROMOTE EDUCATION BY RESTORING, PRESERVING AND DISPLAYING RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES, CARRIAGES, WAGONS AND OTHER ARTEFACTS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST AND BUILDINGS CONNECTED THEREWITH IN PARTICULAR, BUT WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, THOSE CONNECTED WITH THE SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND AND THE PRESERVING AND DISPLAYING OF BOOKS, DRAWINGS, RECORDS, DOCUMENTS, SOUND AND VISUAL RECORDINGS, CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS RELATING TO SUCH ARTEFACTS AND VEHICLES, THEIR HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
No mention of the WSR there.

I don't disagree that people want one basic cohesive charity and that charity needs to concentrate on the WSR. Why the two existing charities have been constituted with wider aims, I don't know but the fact that is that they have. In my opinion, this fact makes them unsuitable for that purpose unless they change their objectives completely. It is not inconceivable that in the future the two charities could distance themselves from the WSR and concentrate on other things, especially if the trustees change.

 

I think you've got the old objectives there, they were updated within the last few years IIRC. Which shows that changing objectives is possible, and changing them to be more in line with the WSR is also possible. Whether the WSRA and WSSRT are "general" charities or not, the fact is they are both, in practise, WSR charities. I see no desire by either to become more general railway charities away from the WSR, so one way or another, the WSRA and WSSRT need to cease to be separate organisations for the benefit of the WSR. The only difference of opinion is how that is achieved, and also whether the WSSRT want to be a part of that or continue to be an anomoly, and afterwards stick out even more.

 

Well I downloaded it from the CC website an hour ago so it should be up to date.

 

Maybe the CC haven't got round to updating their website then. I've definitely seen the part @RailWest quoted before.

 

WSRA Objects: https://www.wsra.org.uk/wp-content/...ssociation-Articles-of-Association-170930.pdf

"The objects of the Association are to promote education in the heritage of the railway from Taunton to Minehead by restoring, preserving and displaying railway locomotives, carriages, wagons and other artefacts (including documents, drawings, photographs, recordings and films) of historical interest and the buildings connected therewith."

WSSRT Objects: http://www.wssrt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/articles2014.pdf

"To promote education by furthering interest in and appreciation of railway lines, equipment, buildings, and construction and steam or other traction engines of historical engineering or scientific importance particularly by preserving and displaying the same."

 

The CC need to be reminded of the change - assuming they were notified of the change.
Noticeable is the mention of Taunton and Minehead in the WSRA objectives but no specific places names in the WSSRT ones. So does that suggest they are not a 'matching pair' as suggested. The Trusts scope appears far wider it seems in that 'other traction engines' form part of the wording.

 

There is not much light between those charitable objects though.

 

That would appear to be the case. As a WSRA trustee I'll flag that up tomorrow. Thanks for alerting us to the error.

Barrie

 

There are too many people who like their status, and will see maintaining that status as a crucial objective in its own right. The embarrassing behaviour of these people is hard to explain in any other way.

 

Not much light anywhere in West Somerset it appears at times.

 

Yes there are... And there are also several instances of rules or processes being twisted to suit the individuals argument...

Which is precisely what is happening here. The CC guidance relating to the interview of candidates refers to where trustees are seeking to recruit new trustees... Note the section heading:- "This section summarises the main stages in the recruitment of new trustees and sets out a typical sequence of events." (My highlighting)

Nowhere is it specified that existing trustees have any powers of interview or selection over members standing at an AGM

Now why am I having to point this out? Surely, having specified the specific guidance is it not clear to you that this refers to recruitment?

 

Yesterday I posted this

I should therefore mention that Don did reply promptly, saying

I am content to await the papers.

 

WSSRT were proposing to amend their objects at the cancelled AGM. I suspect they might be planning to amend their Articles soon as well.

 

Surely, Robin, what funding agencies (and individual donors) want to see above all else is calm, purposeful and experienced management, so that the funds are carefully managed and are spent on what the bidder says they will be spent on. I think most of the posters here would agree that what they will not want to see is potential recipients fighting like proverbial rats in a sack. As some of the posters here have in effect said “we are not donating anything - a plague on all your houses”. You yourself took up the post of Chair of the railway-wide Fundraising Group, and had an opportunity to play a leading role in co-ordinated fund raising. You presumably concluded that this wasn’t what was needed and headed off in the present direction. This is your right.

However there is an argument that a large number of small grant and donation contributions can potentially add up to as much as a small number of large ones. Some people are more comfortable donating to a small organisation - I know I would be. The critical question is “is it going to be well managed?”

Whoever is to blame for the present situation, the sudden nomination of the large group of potential new trustees has certainly stirred up a whirlwind. And until there is a general calming down and a recognition that opinions and individuals should be respected, whatever the outcome of the WSSRT election, it is going to be more difficult for the West Somerset Railway to secure funds, whether there are one, two, three or fifty three charities. It is worth remarking that organisational reputations can be quickly destroyed yet take years to recover. The clearest local example is the one you and I, Robin, were closely involved in, which was the removal of the 6 WSRA trustees a few years ago. Since then the WSRA continues to have a declining membership, despite valiant efforts of many individuals. And there is a very big difference indeed between the effectiveness of the existing WSSRT trustees and the “ex6”.

 

I have hi-lighted the word 'OR' in the relevant minute. The process seems unequivocal to me:

35 No person other than a director retiring by rotation may be appointed a director at any general meeting unless: (1) he or she is recommended for re-election by the directors; or (2) not less than fourteen nor more than thirty-five clear days before the date of the meeting, the charity is given a notice that: (a) is signed by a member entitled to vote at the meeting; (b) states the member’s intention to propose the appointment of a person as a director; (c) contains the details that, if the person were to be appointed, the charity would have to file at Companies House; and (d) is signed by the person who is to be proposed to show his or her willingness to be appointed.

To refuse any nomination received before the end of this month risks invalidating the AGM and therefore any appointments purported to have been made during the session. Two nominations are presently awaiting acceptance.

 

I think you'll find a lot of people (not all) said that well before the WSSRT candidates announced themselves.

 

Robin, did y0u lead the fundraising group that got the £860000 award from the DCMS?

 

Frank, more people may read your contributions if they were 3 or 4 lines long.

Sorry, just couldn't resist!!

 

The DCMS Grant was a PLC application, but assisted in its preparation by the WSRA and WSSRT. It also got support from others on the railway, stakeholders local MP's and other civic people - according to Steve (WSR.org.uk).
The Hinkley Fund was discussed some many posts ago in connection with the ultimate placement of the grant.