West Somerset Railway General Discussion

With respect it would be easy to gain a false picture if you include these because they have always been there as individual donations and small grant givers. Small scale fundraising is taking place and indeed I would say my £96k HPC bid was small scale even though it was the largest gained up until the Covid emergency award last month. The re-structure I'm talking about needs to accommodate the large scale opportunities, as Robin said, 6 & 7 figure awards, not 4 & 5 figures which are less effected by the current issues of 2 Charities.

The £865,000 'Covid award' although of course a life line and very welcome was awarded differently to different criteria and shouldn't be considered as large scale funding in the normal sense. Its more of a one off emergency cash injection to keep the WSR going which with the support of the local MP's, SCC, District & Parish Councils, etc, combined with West Somerset already prior to Covid being defined by Central Government with 'Opportunity Area' status (meaning it gets priority for such Government centrally funded money) it was easily going to be awarded whether it was 2,3 or 6 charities, and its also very unusual because it appears to being given directly to a commercial company not a Charity.

 

It was our volunteer gang clearing out the PW equipment etc from Washford & moving the RRV to WN for our next volunteer job ? on Sunday ?....

 

In nearly every case (at least for heritage railways), the DCMS grant was award to operating companies rather than associated charities. That makes sense since it was primarily revenue support for a business; in many cases, awarding it to a charity would have just led to problems about the flexibility with which it could be spent. The Gift Aid consideration doesn't of course apply to such a donation.

All of which shouldn't distract from the main point, which is that historically, the WSR as a whole has been very poor at fund rising beyond the fare box when compared with its peers.

Tom

 

Steve has also created a board where the current proposals can be discussed. He describes the options available to the WSSRT very eloquently. The one option we do not have is to do nothing, although that seems to be the aim of the current board. They have a choice in that they can either wonder what to do and ask the membership..... or they can sit on their hands until one day, they will wonder what happened.

https://transformwsr.wordpress.com/2020/10/19/keep-it-simple/

https://transformwsr.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/says-who/

 

Which was why, I believed, the joint fundraising set up was to address that lack of inaction. A fund raiser was appointed but is no longer there I believe.

 

No.

The Joint fundraising group is certainly a step forward, but only a step.

Robin

 

Wrong again, I'm afraid.

The professional fundraiser employed by the WSRA is very much still there and has had some notable successes (on a modest scale) recently, with one or two announcements to come.

Robin

 

I did ask that my account was disabled but as it has not been then I will use it to post the following from Facebook WSSRT page

I more open and shut case of bringing the railway into disrepute I never seen

The Chairman of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust, Chris Austin, has announced today that he is stepping down as chairman and as a trustee with immediate effect. He remains a member and loyal supporter of the Trust and a volunteer worker on the railway. Chris said:
“I am sorry to be leaving the Trust after ten successful years as Chairman. I am afraid that I can no longer carry out this role while I continue to be the subject of intimidation and harassment by a group of people who are bent on taking control of the Trust in order to secure the PLC shares it owns and to force a merger with the Association which, as a Trustee, I do not believe is in the best interests of the Trust, or of the West Somerset Railway.
At the age of 75, I believe it is time for a younger person to take over, and the strain of the last six weeks is now affecting my health and well-being. I have been subject to threats of legal action from both Robin White and a number of the group who are seeking to become trustees, together with a threat to refer the Trust’s management to the Charity Commission and a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The accusations made have become increasingly hostile and are quite inappropriate in relation to a small charity run entirely by volunteers; enough is enough.
I am grateful to my nine excellent trustees who have given me so much support over the last few difficult weeks. I am grateful too for the support of members who have written to me and to the wonderful group of Trust volunteers with whom I have had the privilege of working. I have enjoyed working with Jon Jones-Pratt as PLC chairman and Mike Sherwood as Association Chairman and am grateful to them for their support, advice and encouragement. I would underline that my departure does not reflect any problem or dispute between the organisations that run and support the WSR, but stems from the actions of a small group of people with a strong sense of their own infallibility and a cavalier approach to working with those volunteers who have agreed to take on the heavy responsibility of managing and supporting this wonderful railway.
I am grateful to my vice-Chairman, Steve Williams, who has agreed to step up as Acting Chairman while my successor is sought.

 

You reap what you sow, I feel. If you don't want complaints sent to the ICO, don't give out people's personal data.

...so he's resigning because of his own actions? Seems strange

 

With respect, I feel this version of events paints a rather one sided picture. It's sad and regretful that anyone volunteering for a cause they love feels unable to carry on, but I'd suggest that many would see this departure as inevitable following several recent actions.

The data breach, for example.

And the threat of legal action wouldn't have been made without good reason (and reading between the lines, many will form a view on why it was).

There's plenty more which could be said, but it wouldn't achieve anything.

 

Rodder, So what about the members who were themselves harassed and bullied, because they stood for trusteeship as you sow, shall ye reap ,

 

It is probably a vain hope, and much too early to draw firm conclusions, but wouldn't it be good if this was the first sign of changing times and a new beginning for a united WSR family!

 

If you think this is going to get a united WSR you are living in cloud cuckoo land It will unite the railway but not in the way you think. The volunteers who have not said anything will turn on the 10 and they will be voted down of that now there is no doubt and as the local press will be all over this.

 

Whatever one's personal view of the respective merits of various parties' visions for the WSR's future, it is very sad that any of the parties can be so sure that they are in the right when they are really very far in the wrong. Perhaps we can all agree about that, while agreeing to disagree as to which parties it applies to.

 

Pleased to hear it. I thought she had been a victim of furlough.

 

you really cant let go can you

 

So, Are these members being told to turn, on the 11, Or are they being allowed to make their own mind up? you, have a personal agenda against these members of the WSSRT, especially Robin White, if the press are as you say, all over it, I hope that any reporting is done truthfully, and balanced,

 

Neither would your call, as you have posted on FB, for the immediate withdrawal of all of the '10's' ID cards.....

That's not the way to do it I'm afraid. Well not at every other railway anyway.

 

Tom