West Somerset Railway General Discussion

That must be quite an accolade!

 

If I guessed correctly, the individual was once Head of HR at one of Her Majesty's prisons. Not quite a FTSE top 100 company but probably good experience when looking for someone to underpin a pre-determined outcome.

 

Interesting that the Bluebell see volunteers are important and have appointed a volunteer coordinator who seems to be talking to those running the railway and seeing how to effectively use volunteers. Also looking at succession planning etc. Maybe WSR need to take note.

 

The way the Talyllyn handle things at the top hasn't thrown up too many issues over the past 70 years either. Not directly transferable to Minehead, but outlines what any changes need to achieve for the sake of the future of the WSR.

 

I remember Peter Edkins very well (first VLO) rather nice and affable bloke, used to see him when used to use to the gym at the Village hotel in Dudley, even though I’d stopped volunteering at the SVR we always had a bit of chat about SVR matters, he never pushed it but would gently remind me that if I wanted to, there would always be opportunities available for me if I wanted to come back.

 

What were those consultants asked to do (whether or not they are competent to do it)? I thought the PLC had arbitrarily withdrawn some volunteers' (not only the candidates for the then WSSRA) cards without any formalities, appeal procedures or anything else.

 

The WSR (collectively, but especially the PLC Board) ought to be taking note of all sorts of things but seem to have heads well down in the sand.

 

5199

The repaint of 5199 is now complete so today it was outside having a steam test prior to re-entering service next week.

The repaint was a contract job at the request of the owners The 5199 Project. This has been a win-win operation all round, the locomotive returns to GWR livery, the owners get the repaint they wanted, and the income has enabled some of the WSR shed staff to stay off furlough.

And the weather has been good enough today for Rich Hiscox to take some posed photos of his and the team's work outside Minehead loco shed.

Other minor works have included attention to the pony truck frame, spring stops, replacement jumper ring and clamps, cladding repairs, cab door repairs, and one replacement buffer.

Andy.

 

The WSR at one time had a volunteer co-ordinator who is or was a member of this forum. IIRC a few years ago volunteer co-ordination was a WSRA responsibility; then it was handed over to the plc; then it was handed back to the WSRA; then it was handed over to the plc again.

 

Very nice paint job!
Obviously it is good to see that the WSR workers and volunteers are just getting on with their jobs......

 

7828 & 7822 will work the incoming mainline charter with 5199 and 9351 rostered for the regular service trains.

 

Been made aware of this post. Not sure if you are referring to me, but, I joined the WSR in May 2009 as an assistant to the then Volunteer Co-Ordinator - Ian Aldridge. (I had retired from full-time work as a Senior Admin Manager in the NHS and as part of a much wider role, had oversight of over 300 volunteers). Prior to that I know that the late Humphrey Davies had undertaken the role. Ian moved in 2010 to do more restoration work at WN and I was asked to become the New Volunteer Co-ordinator looking after the recruitment, induction and placement of new volunteers. This was under the WSRA and I reported to then Chairman. Once placed, I had no direct role in the longer term welfare of new volunteers. In 2011, the process was moved to the Plc and I reported to the then General Manager of the Plc. This continued (with the valued support of Claire Randle) until June 2016. In the time we received over 1,600 enquires and recruited, inducted and placed 832 new volunteers. I resigned in July 2016 due to the attitudes of some of the then senior managers plus my late wife was diagnosed with cancer and my personal responsibilities changed. Claire took over (still under the Plc) for some years. Since then I have twice been asked to return to support working groups led by Rod Greenway. Both floundered with the WSRA pressing to resume management, especially as they received the Hinkley Point funding for community engagement and appointed a Field Worker to do this. As part of the second group led by Rod, we produced a low cost action plan for the future management of volunteers under the Plc. I presented it to the Plc Board and after an intervention by a senior manager present for another item, the plan was discussed and agreed by the Board. Three days later I received a telephone call from the then Vice-Chairman to say, there had been confusion over the management of volunteers and it had already been passed back to the WSRA as the Plc could not afford to manage it. At that point all the members of Rod's group resigned. This was mid 2019.

In the 'battle' for control of volunteers, I was subjected to ridicule in emails including comments such as 'dealing with enquiries from home is amateurish', 'they live too far away' , ' the lack of railway experience will count against them'.

As this thread is at the moment; back then the Railway was infected by 'malicious experts' and the 'I know best' brigade in most areas. This is why I now have no interest in or connection to the recruitment of volunteers. There is only so many times you can bang your head against a brick wall of stupidity.

In 2020 I was approached and agreed to return as clerk to PDG which I had done for a couple of years previously. I agreed and have covered 3 online meetings since. I am trying to do something within to influence the future. I have no respect for some of the current Directors or senior managers, but still believe that the Railway is larger than individuals and needs volunteers to pull together to keep it running. Moaning on this thread is not going to change anything. From comments made at PDG meetings, few senior people even bother to read it. How about you all doing something positive instead!

To that end, tomorrow I return for my first turn of duty for almost 2 years as a Museum Guide at BL. Once schools return to some normality, I will also be assisting Helen Anson and the other learning assistants with the schools programme. Before I moved into the NHS, I spent 28 years working in schools to SLT level and will therefore challenge any 'malicious expert' who starts to try to tell me 'they know best!'

Rant over..................
Mel Hillman

 

Yes there is.

I did not mention it in my other recent posting as I only respond on this thread in the sake of clarity. The recent PDG minutes state that the responsibility has now passed back from the WSRA to the Plc and Rod Greenway has been appointed the Temporary Volunteer Manager for the Plc. I do not know the circumstances so can't guess. I suggest others do some research before posting and making guesses!

 

Happy to wade in to support Mel here.

Volunteering needs a lot of input to make sure you get it right, this is true of any organisation where there is almost total dependancy on a volunteer work force, maybe moreso where many of those volunteer undertake safey critical roles.
A while back the WSRA agreed to support the process as part of the wider community engagement objective. We lead the way on the development of a lot of materials and some basic process required to form a volunteer recruitment framework that was fit for the 21st century. We were pleased to be able to help. Back last year the WSR plc, who are the body most people are volunteering to help at the end of the day, expresed a disire to take the whole process of volunteer recruitment back under their wing. WSRA were more than happy to agree and we will, of course, support wherever we can.
For clarity WSRA had only ever agreed to help with the front end of the process, that is to to say finding volunteers and helping then to find their place in the railway structure. The day to day management of volunteers once in post was always a WSR plc esponsibility discharged via the various departments. The current volunteer co-ordinator knows he can call on support from WSRA should it be required.

 

Mel,

Thank you for what you have done for the WSR

Again your experiences highlight the toxic culture that seems to exist in the WSR, and predates the current board