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S&D Railway Trust

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Andy Norman, Feb 24, 2020.

  1. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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    Ok lets try and put this “Is Julie able to write a letter on her schools letter head or not” debate to bed with some clarification and I’ll pull the conversation back round to the S&DRT as I’m sure the Mod’s will be rightly close to reminding us all the subject of this thread (Mod’s: Sorry I’ve hijacked the plight of the S&DRT with the plight of the local school kids for a while, thanks for your patience).

    The HPC Bid was a 50/50 joint project between the WSRA & PLC. The opportunity for the grant was spotted by a WSRA Trustee and I was asked to manage it. I have always said it was me who did the work, in fact that’s not totally true. There were a team of 3, me developing the project and Mike Sherwood (#Aldfort) as the formally appointed WSRA Trustee and a formally appointed PLC Board member (the names changed due to resignations during the 14 months of the application and both are gone now). Both Boards were equally represented and had equal input during the bid. It was felt this was a great opportunity to unite the WSRA & PLC after their previous fights, all saw the need to be united and if the bid was successfully rolled out it would prove to grant funders that the WSR were capable of looking after their money and managing projects with other peoples money. This last point is the most important when the WSR needs an extra circa £1m pa going forward. The above is a matter of record within the WSR, I attended Board meeting and got all parties to sign it off formally. In simple terms the WSRA had to be the recipient of the money because it had to go to a charity and the PLC are the gatekeepers of the resource the community wanted i.e. trains to go for a trip on, 20 miles of venues for people to volunteer on & visit for an experience, etc. Both had to play equal parts and the Project was self-contained, it had a person paid for from the bid (who is in place but not on the WSR now) who would host the visits so the PLC did not use its thinly stretched volunteers/staff plus bid money to pay the PLC for the train trips, etc. In my opinion it was a win/win/win.

    I genuinely believed that it was all working well, I’ve said before that I learned a lot about how to grant fund during that year, I did and that was thanks to two people. 1. The HPC/SCF Manager I worked with during the application, I have the upmost respect for her, she was brilliant and she is a credit to her employers and HPC. 2. Julie Norman, her schools are structured in a similar way to the WSR should be with a volunteer board (Governors) and an operating company (lead by her). Her schools currently gain circa 20% of their overall budget through external grant funding, her schools and nearly all others around the country would not function if they were not good at it. Therefore she brought both her expertise and the wider education/county contacts.

    The PLC & WSRA knew from day 1 the involvement of both, they met with them (Mike will confirm this as will Robin & Paul) and they acted to teach us all how to grant fund, they did this in addition to their paid roles, as volunteers helping the WSR. The PLC/WSRA received 17 letters of support for the application, these included a number of schools in addition to Julie’s, Watchet Council, SCC, West Somerset Council, BL Parish Council, The GWR 813 Fund, DEPG, and our friends the S&DRT (to bring it full circle) ALL wrote those letters of support on their headed paper and the PLC accepted that with no issue.

    All was well the fund was gained and BOTH the WSRA & the PLC signed up to the agreement. The PLC Board was changed a month after the contract was signed and the activities locked in. One of the new chairman’s first actions was to stop the first community visit and state then that “no further visits will take place without the PLC Board’s express permission” Mike Sherwood will recall we both reacted to this by saying in writing that this was a breach of the agreement, Mike’s email was stronger than mine in this regard and very forthright. Since then in Dec 2018 none of the schools have received what they were promised and what all those people signed up to.

    Moving forward until today it’s been reported that due to the PLC not allowing the activities to take place on the WSR, there are reports (only reports) of the project being moved off site by the WSRA/HPC as the only option available because the PLC has stood firm in not wanting to be involved. I respect both for trying to keep the project alive whilst also on the other hand criticising the WSRA (as a shareholder) for allowing it to happen. Julie in her capacity as Headteacher wrote asking the PLC to confirm this and clarify the situation, it is an open letter because she has not gained previous responses to her questions and it got to the press because somebody else leaked it to them.

    Does Julie have the right to send her request of headed paper? Yes, she had to and if she didn’t she would have failed Nolan Principal number 5 which would mean she would have failed her school by keeping quiet about what she knew. I also think every other organisation who sent supporting letters has the right to send the PLC the same if they wished.

    The response from the PLC so far has been nothing, not a word. They did however have time to issue a set of comments to the newspaper which said in effect “it’s nothing to do with us, it’s the WSRA”, “the money has been used correctly and we can prove it” (these two statements seem to contradict each other, either they know about it or they don’t) and “Julie should not have written it on the letterhead” (how would they know whether she was able to or not?) thus playing the player again not the ball.

    This brings us back round to the S&DRT and “Cuckoos in the Nest” style of Press Release which instead of dealing with the facts and the issues they just undermine people who are trying to do a good thing for the community. In Julie’s case here it worked, we have debated letter heads for a few pages now, we have not debated the ability of the current PLC Board to handle grant funding which all agree has to be a part of the WSR’s future.

    The last word has to go to the S&DRT and then I’ll shut up about it (I’m sure some will be happy about that). The S&DRT as mentioned above supported the WSR in this grant application with a letter of support. When the HPC Manager visited the WSR for a tour of the line and the resources the WSR had to offer the community as a final part of their due diligence process the S&DRT went out of their way, they provided two people on the day to open up the site, they showed her the buildings, museum, etc. and due to their positivity demonstrated to her what a great place the WSR and its string of pearls is. Yet here we are serving them a notice to quit, saying they contribute nothing to the WSR and calling them a bunch of Cuckoos. I’m happy to answer any questions via PM if it’s easier so we can focus back on the S&DRT. Public Interest Disclosures Act declaration.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2020
  2. Piggy

    Piggy Member

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    Thank you, Andy ..... a voice of reason beyond the hubbub .
     
  3. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Thank you for putting some facts forward to counter the stream of dead cats being thrown around to distract from any questions daring to be asked, the PLC comments just seem to be a traditional case of the bullies crying bully at anyone who disagrees with them.

    Anyway what animals are they planning for their petting zoo, people have been strangely quiet on that front?
     
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  4. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    Given their behaviour, Skunks and Vultures would seem likely. :D
     
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  5. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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    Thanks for using the word Bullying, its an appropriate phrase in my opinion. Needless to say schools teach the children in their care to stand up to bullies, its one of the key components of the Governments Character Curriculum requirements, therefore if the people running the schools can't stand up to be counted how can they look the children in the eye and tell them too ?
     
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  6. Herald

    Herald Member

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    Am I alone in wondering if hidden within all of the words we're back to the same fundamental aspect of business management which reared its head before when the PLC and Association fell out over the price paid for Association members free tickets. Andy doesn't make clear the amount the PLC was to be paid for the trips but one assumes it to have been discounted relative to full public ticket prices. It is easy to see a cash strapped business's new management team taking a dim view of those who've saddled them with what at first sight may be seen as a loss. Wiser management might think about that intangible item in many company accounts called goodwill even if some way off and not helping with the immediate cash crisis.

    What seems odd but entirely typical of the I'm never wrong type of person is that if the PLC board have really turned the finances around they would now be able to offer what I'm assuming were discounted trips to build some future goodwill. Given the relatively small sums involved just like the difference between the current Washford rent and hoped for amounts and the fact that these are trivial relative to the £m's needed it does seem to be a bad case of the sort of penny wise pound foolish decision making, understandable when you're broke but unlikely to bring long term success.
     
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  7. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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    You are right to bring this up. I won't disclose the sums because it would not be fair but I of course know them having been the person to get them agreed by all parties. Its a good point re what is a good ticket price. This was easy and a part of the justification which the PLC knew and agreed. The schools would use normal service trains, mid-week and to match traffic patterns (I worked with the now departed Head of Marketing on this) thus meaning there was no additional cost to the PLC just empty seats filled on set service rakes of coaches (which in any case could be strengthened at short notice from either end), we even scheduled them for quieter times of the year to avoid high season busy trains. The bid paid for WSR CEM was planned to be the WSR Host so no cost to the PLC there either and I even had additional volunteer drivers. firemen and guards who would go into the schools in advance of the visit to explain how you can volunteer on the WSR. You are right a cost accountant could see this two ways, the people prior to the current Board saw the upsides, the current Board didn't. I just saw it as money and people coming to the WSR for no additional PLC costs.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2020
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  8. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Remember as well that this would be guaranteed income on already running trains, also potentially inspiring the next generation locally! If the grant money has been claimed yet the trips required not happened, something is awry somewhere?
     
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  9. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Discounted trips are only loss making if you thereby have to turn down a full price ticket. 30 schoolchildren paying £10 each is worse than 30 ordinary passengers paying £28, but considerably better than 30 empty seats.

    Tom
     
  10. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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    You'll never get on with that logic.
     
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  11. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Having read the above I have a strong sense that this whole business is not going to end well. Others can decide which set-up is on the moral high ground and, more to the point, which set-up is on the legal high ground especially when the T&Cs of the charity commission are included.

    All very sad, really.
     
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  12. Snifter

    Snifter Well-Known Member

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    In happier times, I was close to some of the senior management team and privy to details of commercial "bulk" arrangements for getting bums on seats. Discounting groups is nothing new and makes perfect business sense when you are running off-peak trains i.e. there is no incremental cost to the business. I don't profess to know the deep detail of the schools contract however I would be amazed if it was less favourable than other deals that were done. Add in the extra trade done in the gift shops, ice cream etc. and the pull-through business e.g. future return visits with friends and family then it is certainly win / win / win.
     
  13. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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  14. GWR4707

    GWR4707 Nat Pres stalwart

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  15. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    that possibly ranks as the most stupid comment posted on this forum especially when Andy has been very transparent on here regarding source, context and relationship . That people have liked it .

    the sad thing is a continuing escalation of Covid-19 may be more than enough to undo the positive steps of WSR recovery and plunge the whole movement into an even worse mess
     
  16. Andy Norman

    Andy Norman Member

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    Good spot. The WSRA's comment 48 hrs ago was “While I realise that the money may not have been spent in exactly the way that was set out in the original grant application, it has been spent on the community engagement objectives that were agreed.” Which is a statement I would take issue with as above. However today the WSRA is saying: "The WSR said the programme was continuing for a second year – and that lessons had been learned" Is it that people are running for their respective bunkers now an MP has engaged ?
     
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  17. Piggy

    Piggy Member

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    Actually, it makes perfect sense and is a basic business technique.
     
  18. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    I think you missed the sarcasm...
     
  19. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    So what was the money spent on?

    It is funny but the chairman's cult of personality means that whenever there is any good news it is thanks to him, whenever there are any problems he vanishes and leaves it to his lackeys to attack and blame others.
     
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  20. Ian Milne

    Ian Milne New Member

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    Clearly a devotee of the Trump school of mis- management
     
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