Heritagerailway.co.uk 51
“While theyoungermembersrequireoneonone
supervision, theolder onescanworkasateamtogether.
Astheyprogressthroughthegroup,theoldergroup
membersstart tosupervisetheyoungervolunteers. This
formsagoodsolidbondin theteamandaddressesthe
lack ofsupervisors–sothegroup feedsitself.”
Some ofthemembersof theNVRYouthGroup andtheirleaders areseenat Overtonstation.MARTINVOS/NVRI
fyou’vebeenfortunateenoughtojoina
heritage lineasayoung volunteer,you’llbe
only tooaware that experiencesgainedthere
canput youingoodstead for your futurecareer
andlifeingener al.
Opportunitiesaboundtointeractwitha
wholecross-section of soci ety; practising your
languageswithoverseasvisitor s; learning how
to handlesituations –beitassis ting apassenger
withadisabilityorpersu adingarailway
colle ague of themeritsofanideafor example;
andgaining practicalDIY skillssuchas
painting,using powertools or mixing cement.
They’reall expe rienceswhich canhelpenrich
your CV andenable youtotalkwithpassion to
awould-beemployer at an interview, helping
youtostand outfrom thecrowd.
As someonewho used to ‘hireand fire’, it
saddened me when awould-beemployeewould
look blankly when Iasked whethertheyhad
anyinterests outside work. Iwantedthemto
be passionate about life–and Iwantedthemto
bringthatenthu siasmtomyteam.
Youngvolunteer sare welcome attheNene
Valley Railway(NVR) from theage of 12.
Quietlybeavering away at Overton(formerly
knownasFerry Meadows) on arange of tasks,
from runningthe busy intermediate station
in customer-facing rolestoengineering-type
work in restoringcarriages,the railway’syoung
volunteers cangainavariety of experiences.
TheNVR YouthGroup (YG) recently received
asignificant boostwhenarespectedmainline
trai noperating companyrecognisedits efforts
andcommitted to financiallysupportingit.
East CoastMainLineoperatorLNERawarded
a£24,0 00 granttof urther theNVR’s workin
developingskillsand expe riencesfor young
people–perhap sarecognition ofthefact
severaloft he YG’s membershave become
committed, valued LNER employees.Background
Phil Marshall,who is theYG’sleaderand also
adirectoroft he NVR, said:“It’s essential to
bringyoung people on boardatthe railway
–parti cularlywhenthey’re 12-14asthat’s
theage they’restartingtogainalittle bit
of independence.
“Ifyou le ave itmuch la ter,oncetheyget to
15 or 16,theywill have found othe rinterests.
By thetimethey’re aged 18,they’re in further
educationorstartingout at work–and
beforetoo long,they’re getting ahomeand
bringing up theirown famili es andyou’velost
that opportunity.
“There fore, youhave to encouragethemto
join when they’reyoung.Wefindtheymake
time for therailway as they’regoing along.
In ourexperience, 50%remainwithinthe
railway’senvironment,sot he successrate is
quitehigh.”
Phil stressed:“It’s not just what we want from
them –it’swhattheywantfromustoo.We
want to prov idesomething that is worthwhile
for youngpeople.
“Being supportedbyLNERmakes a
tremendous differen ce. When it comestosome
parents, whomay be alittledoubt ful of the
valueoftheir children wantingtospend time
volunteering on arailway,the initialresponsecanbethattheir offspringshouldbefocusing
on theiracademicwork.
“They’re notinitiallyaware of thecareer
optionswhich areavailable in railways –and
they maynot apprecia te that if youdowant
to go andwork, qualifications areimportant
–and having some sort of expe rience is also
critic al to it.
“LNERhas continuedwiththe Virgin Trains
ethosthatexperienceofvoluntary workisa
valuable at tributefor would-be recruits.
“Itvaluesanapplicant’slifeskills–
particularly soci al skills. Therefore, station
duties, servinginthe tearoomand deliv ering
ourSanta trains on theNVR will putthem
in good steadwhenthey’re beforethe
interviewpanel,which is interested in howan
applicant comesover–i.e.their confidence at
talking. Alot of youngpeopletoday interact
withtheircontemporariesvia theirmobile
phone.Comingtothe NVRhowever,they
interact withawiderange ofpeople –from
twoto100-year-oldsand from different
backgrounds too.”
Phil stressed:“What we’renot hereto do is to
talk abouttrains. We find themostsuccess ful
membersofour schemehave apassion for
railways but they also have interestsinother
areas. If they’retoo narrow-minded, they can