How to get younger people interested in volunteering on Railways

Hello all

Im wondering if anybody has any thoughts in getting the younger population to take an active interest in volunteering on whatever their local line happens to be.
With the ongoing lack of interest/lack of access (due to gated stations now) and with even mainline railtours having restriction on top of restriction heaped on them with the enevitable long drawn out death of the "enthusiast tour" being replaced by "day's out" tours how are we going to have enough younger keen people to come through and replace all those for whatever reason cannot continue their participation in the upcoming years
Added to that having seen this in action myself there seams to be on some Railways an almost aversion to being with younger volunteers, now some lines seam to be less affected by this due to the use of more modern kit be it either locos or the rolling stock, now im in my 40's and volunteer on my local line a few times a month and very seldom see any young faces, and im currently going through a very very long drawn out operation to get my step-son to volunteer on the line, if it wasnt for me getting forms from the office instead of still waiting for one through the post im sure he would have given that up long ago, and that would have been another one lost to video games or whatever
Now this may not be a problem now but in ten years or so there could be a lot of gaps as people find it too much for them, i fear if we not act soon we could all miss out, or the few left could be very overworked and then if that was the case we just will not go at all

 

Would not disagree in the slightest. However I suggest we need to look into this matter further. Recently I met, by chance, on the railway I volunteer on, a retired senior railwayman. He was of the opinion that passengers, as well as volunteers would die off in the course of time. This chap made me, "Mr. What the hell are they wasting money on that for" seem like "Mr. Wouldn't that be nice"!! He was knowledgeable, informed and particularly scathing about a certain well known tourist railway which I won't reveal in an open posting but might if someone gets in touch OP.

Paul H

 

I suppose one of the digest difficulties must be the various child protection rules. I was told by someone in a 'big railway' establishment that he could not offer a work experience place because everyone would have to be DRB checked - and as they clearly had no idea which drivers would be turning up it was impossible

 

DRB checks are quite widespread now.

PH

 

Reading between the lines, that railway doesn't deserve to have volunteers if paperwork is that hard to get hold of.

More generally, I suggest that the interest will increasingly be as older volunteers or visitors develop an interest in the site to those younger, and interest comes that way rather than the broader railway enthusiasm (spotting, tours, etc.) of our youth.

The challenge will be the competition for time, effort and money with other interests.

 

I disagree on the passengers, unless the birth rate plummets.

However, I would be interested to know the nature of his observations about said anonymous railway, if only to help tell whether they are overwrought or suggestive of something that needs dealing with

 

I think your last sentence is key: is it possible that the heritage railway movement has peaked?

 

I am not saying that I agree necessarily but that people out there who think I am a pessimist "ain't heard nuttin' yet"! As I said before I will let anyone know from the railway concerned who will contact me OP if they wish. I can say it lies further south than Grantham.

PH

 

Well that's the thing isn't it with today's plastic railway why would you even get involved in trains of any sort in the first place, when I started in the mid eighties loco hauled trains at my local station were every 15mins not once a day like most places now, I joined my local line and spend most of my time on steam, to be honest I have no interest in steam but I see that the public do. But what if I was that age now would I in thirty years time spend my time volenteering on trains? Not a chance. So long term it may be dodgy, something for the managers to ponder over there, as I say I'm in my mid 40's and I'm a young one compared to most, to my knowledge I've seen no more than 10 people younger than me in all the different departments

 

There are lines which attract younger supporters; one has the impression, rightly or wrongly, that certain welsh railways create a friendly family atmosphere to such an extent that the younger volunteers have a tendency to marry each other and produce more volunteers in due course. My (limited) experience is that in a digital age many youngsters are fascinated by getting their hands on actual real hardware and that provided the railway wants to do it, it is possible to reach out into the local community. I had the privilege of helping out a little in the early stages of the Mountsorrel project and believe this is an example which should be studied. They made a point of invoving groups such as the local brownies and scouts in ecology studies. There appeared to be a definite demand for "lads and dads" working parties; involving family and community produced linesside clearance teams of 60+ volunteers per day. I remember one day there was a young lady of 12 or so with the sleeper lining gang on the extension; we put her in charge of it and she did very well. At one point they had a team of teenage girls who specialised in wagon restoration and by all accounts enjoyed it. This did not go unrewarded -they achieved a £600K grant for their loco shed and visitor facilities.

Tim

 

Not all lines are the same.

I volunteer at a line with a 33 year old chairman and several drivers under 40.

There are quite a few teenagers in the pool of cleaners as well as firemen in their twenties.

Yes the total pool of volunteers does include those up to and slightly over 70, but there are younger people spread across all departments.

 

To be clear, I do not want to know which railway it is, how long it is, or what latitude it lies at.

My interest is, if it is possible to share them without identifying the line, in the nature of those comments as they might relate to the topic of this thread.

 

But what got you interested in trains in the first place?

I take your point about modern "plastic" trains not having the same appeal as the trains of our youth (I'm a similar age to you) - for me, it was the SW main line near Wimbledon, with 33s, 50s and 73s, plus many varieties of EMU. The ECML here in Grantham has less of that kind of appeal today. But there had to be something - an event, a person - that triggered the interest in railways which you've then followed through on.

My 11 year old son shares my interest, but interestingly isn't interested in preserved diesels but is in steam - though I like both.

My question - and challenge - is about how that is replicated in a very different world.

 

To do with maintenance and replacement issues in both the civil and mechanical engineering sides. Not safety issues as such

PH

 

Ouch. Enough said

 

But rarely necessary for heritage railways. There are very few situations where it is required.

Of more concern to the movement at the moment is the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920, which has reared its ugly head. This specifically prohibits the employment of people under 16 in industry and industry is defined to include railways. 'Employment' is not defined. The HRA have taken advice from a QC whose considered opinion is that it includes working of any kind, including volunteering. This is enforced by the Education (Work Experience) Act 1973 which was introduced to override the 1920 & 1933 Acts and allow those under 16 to have organised work experience as part of their education.
As I have said, learned opinion is that children under 16 cannot work on a heritage railway. It also applies to a host of other things that can involve volunteering. Moves are afoot to introduce legislation to overcome this but it will not be a five-minute task. The ORR have said that they will not prosecute any railway in breach of the Act and, indeed, there have be no such prosecutions since the Act was introduced but that does not stop a misguided local authority or even an individual from taking out a prosecution. If you think that this won't happen, ask yourself why the question has suddenly emerged after all this time.

 

I am perhaps fortunate in that I regularly encounter youngsters volunteering in the heritage sectors that I am involved in. I find it reassuring that many of these have gone on to find employment in this field as well. While we always feel that we do not have enough volunteers to do all that needs doing there are plenty of them young enough learning the skills that will keep the movement alive for many years to come. It seems to me that volunteers come from all ages, classes and sexes, but why oh why are we unable to appeal to members of the ethnic minority communities? I really do not know the answer to this one but surely there must be some potential for volunteer recruitment in this area, especially in areas with large such populations.

Anyone got any constructive thoughts on this?

Peter James

 

Anyone thought of asking young people...?

A few thoughts. Trains aren't cool with the young generation, to my eternal misery! Perhaps the exception of driver and fireman, which may get a nod of appreciation, but you're too young to be able to do that anyway.

I do wonder whether Thomas doesn't help in all this. Yes it gets the very young interested, but they quite rightly grow out of Thomas. The Peter's railway series seems to address this, although unfortunately it was a little too late for me, so I don't know too much about it.

I'm of the mind that railways point blank not accepting volunteers under the age of 18 are being rather lazy. 16 should not be impossible.

Encouraging parents and siblings is a good way to not have to worry about DRB checks as much. It also might make it easier for young people in an environment that is predominantly a older generation, at least initially.

I have little experience of railways' youth groups, other than the fact I've never wished to join one, and I know I'm not alone. Is always rather just be in a department and mucking in with everyone else. Some youth groups seem to do more such that this isn't an issue, but those that just meet and talk about trains I don't think are appealing to the folk that actually want to and are capable of volunteering.

Finally, for now, I don't see any evidence of passenger numbers decreasing from where I am. There's always plenty of folk on the train who don't remember steam but still enjoy the experience, although I grant you, maybe not enough to support the railway more than merely visiting and perhaps becoming a member.

 

Minor pedantic point. The old CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks are now DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service).

I also take issue with those that say they aren't necessary, or can be got around by having parents supervise. They are the tip of an iceberg marked "safeguarding", and any organisation supervising children or "vulnerable adults" needs to think about how it will do this. For children, that includes thinking through how supervision will be provided, and ensuring that wherever possible, leaders aren't in a situation where they are in sole charge of children. I would not let my children volunteer without there being a safeguarding policy available for me to read - and I would read it.

There is also the small matter of ensuring that those doing the supervision are actually going to be suitable for the job - a great craftsman may not be so great at bringing someone on.

These aren't necessarily hugely onerous, but they do require thought and a degree of planning.

 

Re numbers. See Page 82/#1621 of WSR Ops.