LNER’s funding will mean that moreyoungsters
will be able to benefitlikeAdamPaice, whojoined
theYouthGroup aged13and went on to manage
Overtonstation.
Using theskills andknowledge hegainedfrom
thegroup, Adam was able to startacareer in therail
indu stry andisnow atrain manager withLNER,which
runs themainline rail services through Peterborough.
RachaelWilson, statio npartnershipproject
manager at LNER,said: “The work that theNene
Valley YouthGroup undertake is fantastic. We have
directly benefitedfromit, withthe hiring ofAdam,
whohit theground runningasatrain managerdue to
theskills andknowledge that he developed. We are
very happytobeprovidingthe groupwith thefunds
it needstoengagewith evenmoreyoung people
with in Peterborough.”RAILWAYCAREERPATH
Thecurrent mainpr ojectisr estori ng1929-builtWagon-Lits
restaurantcarNo. 29 75.Groupmembersarebenef iting from
theoppor tunitytoacquirearangeofexperienc es–from
fitt ingakitchentometalworkandconservingtheornate
interiorofanhistoricvehicle.MARTINVOS/NVRdon’thave specificYGproj ects.Theywork
on whatever proj ects aregoing on at Overton
–which arenot normally smallins cale,”
explainedPhil.
“Wefindtheydislike beinginaclassroom
environmentast heyget that five days a
week.From ourperspective,wewanttokeep
them interested–they’renot compelledto
come here.
“Wewelcome youngpeopleaged12and
above.Wewouldn’thave a12-year-old inside
acoachthough as theremight be weldingor
grinding goingon. If it’s summer,they’ll be
working on componentsoutside,sot heyget
that contactwiththe vehiclewitho ut beingin
adangerous place. Also,from asafeguarding
perspective, Iliketokeep theyoungsters
outsideinasmuchviewaspossible.
“While theyoungermembersrequire one
on one supervision, theolder onescan work
as ateamtogether. As they progress through
thegroup,the oldergroup membersstart to
supervisethe youngervolunteers. This formsa
good solidbondinthe team andaddresses the
lack of supervisors–so thegroup feedsitself.
“There ’s somethingfor everyoneon the
restaurant carproject,which canbedone
in asafeand managedfashi on.Older group
memberswho have learnedfabrication
skills, canactually workonthe steelskin
of thevehicle .Morespecialisttasks such as
structural workorthe removalofasbestos is
handle dbyprofessionals.”
Phil said notall YG membersgoontojoin
therailindustry: “A number have become
successfulinengineering, withsome
progressingvia university.The fact is that
in schoolsand colleges today, engineeringis
taught in aclass room,withverylittlepractical
elements.Therefore, therailway offers agreat
opportunitytogainexperienceofusing too ls
such as spanners andwelde rs.
“Wewanttoprovide further opportunities
forworkexperience. Schoolsand colleges are
crying out for places to take theiryoungsters.
We’vegot relationshipswithOundleSchool
andPeterborou gh Regional College, whosend
theirstudentstous.
“We’ve got establishedsystemsinplace, so
we’reideally placed to welcomethem. We find
agroup of sixist he optimumsizefor that.”Social media
AccordingtoPhil, aheritagerailway youth
group cannot pretendthatsocialmedia
does notexist andthatyoungsters shouldn’t
communicat ethrough it.
“You must embrace social media,”hesaid.
“Originallythe policy wasthattherewastobe
no outside contact. It didn’t work because in
practice, thememberswereforming theirown
little groupsand that startedtoleadtotrouble
–peoplewill be people .There fore, having an
official medium moderatedbyusmade things
easier.It’sawayofembracing it bu tmakingit
afun andsafeplace to be.
“Wehave an open Whatsapp groupthat
theparents as well as theyoungsters have
access to.The leaders andthe children can
communicat ewithin thereand theagreement
is that allcommunica tion outsideofbeing
hereis to be done throughthatchannel.IfIas
aleaderwanttospeak directly toachild,Ido
so viathe parent.
“It’soften easier to open up adiscussion in
theWhatsapp forum,which canbemonitored
by all. That way, it’s tran sparent.
“Wehave some basicrules –nobody’s
allowedtochatafter 10pm;and nobad
languageorbullying. Twowarnings areissued
andiftheyfailtoheed those, thememberis
banished from thegroup.”Acalltonetwork
Recognisingthe importance of thesocialside,
Phil said he wouldliketosee exchanges with
othe rheritagerailway youthgroups.
“I wouldliketosee anetworkinplace, which
couldalso involveexchangingideas andbest
practice,”hesaid.“Perhapsthisissomething that couldbe
developed throughthe Heritage Railway
Associ atio n. Ithink theheritagesectorwould
benefitfromworking together moreclosel y.
“Iffriendships canbeformedfromanearly
age, it couldbenef it thewhole sector.The
youngervolunteersoft oday maybethose
taking leadingrolesinthe heritage railway
movement in thefuture.”
Phil wasnot wrongwhenheconcluded:
“Accordingtoour industry regulator ,the
Office of Rail andRoad, theheritagerailway
sectorneedsskilled people, whocan help run
therailway at aprofessionallevel.Wecan’t
afford to employ many of thesepeople, but if
they’reemploye dinthe rail industry locally
andthey’ve got alinkbuilt upas ayoungster
withaparti cularrailway,iti shoped they will
putthatbackinto‘their’ railway–which helps
to makeus sustainable for thelong-term.”
➜Formore details, visitnvr.org.uk/article.
php/39/young-membersor emailyouth@nvr.
org.uk.