East Lancs Railway

Nigel Harris never mentioned which Railway was involved in the text, though.

 

I'm sure it doesn't take CERN scientists to extrapolate which though.

Then she is a better person that me because I came close to [redacted] with [redacted].

 

I don’t disagree with that, what do you really think though?
As Gene Hunt once said ‘It doesn’t take a degree in applied bo***cks to know what’s going on’

 

Horse, bolt and stable door spring to mind.

 

Might those volunteers be the ones who had been guilty of the sexual harassment? What about the other volunteers? How do they feel?

 

Another statement that gives no new information and still says less than nothing. ELRs management must be moonlighting at government spin doctors.

 

I read this as ‘She spoke out publicly about being the victim of sexual harassment whilst volunteering on our railway and we don’t like this so she’s not welcome back here.’ Anyone else?

 

Completely agree. And what about those who subjected Joanne to this vile abuse? Will they also have their volunteering privileges revoked? I'm not holding my breathe.

 

As one of those subjected to withdrawal of ELR privileges because of disagreement with ELR policies I can only state that this note confirms that volunteers are only accepted if they toe the company line - whether they agree with policies or not.

 

Which would be fine if the company line, (and the processes surrounding it), was above reproach.

 

Victim blaming.

it is very unclear to me in all this what happened when. Certainly Joanne has been talking about her experiences as a female volunteer for some time. It appeared that she had the support of the ELR to do so when she spoke to the HRA conference for example. They themselves appear quite pleased when she was nominated for an award.

So now it appears that the original finding in the investigation was wrong. Was that original decision that the case of sexual harassment was “unproven “ contrived?

The wrong volunteer is being ejected. I hope the reputational damage of this is confined to the ELR who deserve it, and does not create a chain reaction through the Heritage Railway industry.

 

What a disgrace the ELR is, i hope she drags them through the courts!

 

Your point is very valid, but I think Anne is still volunteering

 

Forget coal. If you wanted an issue that could very rapidly cause irreparable and unrecoverable damage this is it. Attracting volunteers is hard enough without a perception of sexism (and probably other forms of discrimination that must happen and will be presumed to happen bu the public). I don’t think this is recognised by the HRA leadership.

 

Not being any good at these things would it be possible to have some links to the relevant social media posts?

 

https://twitter.com/JoanneMCrompton You will need to wade through the posts individually. Joanne has been very active at standing up to misogyny in the heritage railways. Clearly, the ELR disagreed with her opinions. Quite frankly, I very much hope that right minded ELR volunteers fail to turn up to their duties this weekend in support of Joanne. Enthusiasts should also boycott this company for the very same reason.

 

Joanne's is here: https://twitter.com/JoanneMCrompton/status/1656906153408823296

It's pretty bad. I'd been trying to see if I could find a way (between the kids and job that normally eat my time) to see if I could volunteer a few days on the railway, use what annual leave I can spare, maybe the couple of volunteering days my employer allows. Absolutely will not be now, that's for sure.

 

I Do wonder, will this be the tip of the iceberg that brings the entire movement into disrespect, an old boys club, with outdated ideas of a woman's place, and worth, When you think there is already a problem with volunteer retention, as it is, situations like this can only make it worse, I would assume Mr Kelly, being a man, has never suffered from unwanted sexual attention, or has slurs on his character because he's a man, It's not a good look is it?

 

At another railway, I recall hearing a male volunteer ask a female volunteer, "what colour knickers are you wearing today, love?".

Very sadly, I think that you are probably correct. The press are already picking up dysfunctionality on heritage railways. With regards to this particular case there was the Daily Telegraph article a few weeks ago. At around the same time, the Daily Fail published its article on door locks with a fairly caustic comment about a heritage railway resembling an asylum populated by drunken staff.

In terms of icebergs, it is not just women that face abuse. I have heard of instances of younger male volunteers were sexually abused in dormitories at two unrelated heritage railways.

We also have to remember that the ELR has form for unacceptable behaviours https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/east-lancs-railway-wartime-weekend-865608