Volunteers provide support to the whole range of activities based in and around the Tyseley site and Vintage Trains Limited. Volunteers need not be members of the Friends of Vintage Trains but are encouraged to join to support the work of the Friends and for the member benefits.
Please visit the how to volunteer help page to contact Vintage Trains if you are interested in joining their volunteer team.
There are numerous ways that volunteers can offer support throughout the year covering a range of activities including
- Locomotive and rolling stock restoration
- Mainline activities e.g. train stewards, sales stand, buffet service, ticket checking
- Help with the Tyseley Depot Guided Tours, which are proving very popular since their introduction. Full training will be given to volunteer guides.
- Fundraising
- Leaflet distribution
- Manning display stands at exhibitions, shows and other events
- Works & Depot Site maintenance, including painting and gardening and projects such as developing the Tyseley station environment.
- Tyseley Open Day Stewarding
- Magazine, Newsletter & Web Site development
- plus a whole range of other sundry activities
There are some specific ongoing projects for which offers of help would be welcome by the Friends and by Vintage Trains, including:
- the Staff Club/LMRCA where Vintage Trains are setting-up a team of volunteers to help with initial planning of how the premises should be developed, complete with costings. It is hoped that the team would progress to include the development of activities on site and on-going management of the facility.
- the Sutton Miniature Railway refurbishment at Tyseley, where there is a small team actively refurbishing the rolling stock on site. However additional volunteer input (including taking over as Project Leader) is always welcome. Work is undertaken on Thursday nights in the main with additional work being undertaken on a Tuesday when resources allow. Major fundraising is also needed to enable the completion of the refurbishment of Sutton Belle and Sutton Flyer (2 x steam locos) and to purchase track and an additional engine shed to allow the locomotives to be securely stored on site.
- clearing the old Visitor Centre in preparation for development into a Staff/Volunteer Mess Room. Volunteers are also curating the collection of previous museum exhibits in readiness for re-deployment around the site. Any additional help with this project would be greatly received.
- there is a pressing need for willing volunteers to help develop VT’s community outreach with local communities, stakeholders and anyone else who would be interested in engaging with Vintage Trains and being part of the vision of promoting main-line steam travel. Roles involved would be basically administrative but would include the need for good interpersonal skills and the ability to be proactive in coming up with ideas for development.
- As Vintage Trains launch their VT membership scheme they will also need anyone interested in helping manage communications and general administration of the scheme – again this can be done from home as long as there is internet and computer access.
Please note that all volunteers are welcome, and Vintage Trains will endeavour to match their aspirations with the opportunities available. However it must be understood that for the operational activities, individuals will need to undergo appropriate supervised training and assessment of suitability.
Last Updated: 30 March 2024