Let’s get 4561 rolling
WSRA Staff Opportunities
The WSRA is offering two exciting staff opportunities for enthusiastic and talented people to join our team for the 2025 season.
Community Engagement Coordinator
The WSRA has secured funding for a Community Engagement Coordinator for the 2025 season. The key purposes of the role are:
- To develop a series of walks from and around WSR stations with a view to making guides and instructions available to everyone.
- Working with other agencies to lead and deliver funded Health and Wellbeing, and Educational trips around the railway
- To establish contact with local charities and institutions to support their activities by offering them funded or part-funded trips on and around the railway.
- To research and develop new opportunities for introducing the West Somerset Railway to disadvantaged groups in the area.
The role is for 12 hours per week to be worked flexibly according to the needs of the charity. There will be a need for some weekend working. The jobholder will be based at Bishops Lydeard Station, but a hybrid working model across the railway will be needed and a limited amount of home working is also expected. The role will initially be for 42 weeks commencing in March 2025.
WSRA Steam Rally Admin Support
The WSRA has a vacancy for an administrator to work in the offices at Bishops Lydeard to support the volunteer team running the steam rally, which takes place on 2 and 3 August 2025.
The Key purposes of the role are:
- To support the Rally marshals with administration of applications, and general queries
- To support the Rally office with general admin and finance matters
- To help recruit and administer volunteers for the event.
- To help coordinate and organise the Rally publicity and advertising
- To support the WSRA Administrator with general Rally admin duties as required
The role is for 8 hours per week by arrangement (ideally 2 mornings) and will be a temporary contract for 6 months commencing in March. There will be a requirement to work both days of the rally. The job holder will be based in the WSRA offices at Bishops Lydeard station. General admin and Microsoft 365 experience are essential for this role.
If you are interested in either of the above roles please contact the WSRA General Manager for more details by email jacquie.green@wsra.org.uk
To Apply please send in your CV and a covering letter to jacquie.green@wsra.org.uk
Closing date for both positions is Friday 21 February at 5:00pm
WSRA Trustee meeting report 13 January 2025
- Previous Meeting – The minutes of the previous meeting on 09 December were approved as an accurate record and are available for members to read in the members area of this website.
- WSRA Governance – Trustees agreed a separate meeting for their annual business risk assessment.
- Staff Matters – Trustees approved cost of living pay rises for existing staff plus the appointment of a funded fixed term Community Engagement post and a temporary Rally Administrator.
- WSR Staff Meetings – GG advised Trustees that he had been invited to present at the Staff meetings in Feb/Mar and he would be promoting what the WSRA has achieved in the last year and what is coming next.
- WSRA Locomotives –
- 80064 – Trustees approved a PLC estimate for work to prepare the loco for its initial boiler inspection.
- 4561 – work is ongoing.
- WSRA Carriages – Trustees noted that the work on TSO 4419 had been completed and the was carriage back in traffic. Re-upholstering work on W31174 is ongoing.
WSRA Trustee meeting report 09 December 2024
The WSRA Trustees met on Monday 09 December by TEAMS. Amongst the items discussed were:
- Previous Meeting – The minutes of the previous meeting on 11 November were approved as an accurate record and are available for members to read in the members area of this website.
- WSRA Trustees – Trustees were disappointed and concerned to hear that Andrew Horner, Will Foster and Ian Harrison had resigned as Trustees.
- Website and Publicity – Trustees confirmed that the practice of publishing a synopsis of each board meeting followed by making the agreed minutes of the previous meeting available to members should continue. It was also confirmed by all Trustees that their email addresses should remain on the website.
- WSRA Locomotives –
- 80064 – the boiler has been lifted off the frames and the cladding removed.
- 4561 – It has been agreed that volunteers at Minehead will fabricate new water tanks for the locomotive.
Buy a bag of Ballast campaign achieves first lorry load
WSRA is thrilled to announce that less than 2 weeks after launching the campaign we have enough donations to buy our first lorry load of Ballast. That is really great news and huge thanks go to our donors and WSRA supporters. Every bag really does make a difference to the railway.
For anyone who has not yet purchased a bag for us please consider if you could do so. Full details can be found HERE
Please will you help this winter by buying a bag of ballast for only £14.
If 40 people buy a bag of ballast we can buy a whole lorry load of ballast. If 240 people did that we would have 6 lorry loads. Please help us to keep the trains running on the West Somerset Railway.
To learn more Visit our BALLAST FUNDRAISING PAGE
To learn more about the Rail Renewal fund and programme of works visit our RAIL RENEWAL PAGE.
For more information:
Jacquie Green WSRA General Manager – E: jacquie.green@wsra.org.uk
Geoff Garfield WSRA Chair – E: geoff.garfield@wsra.org.uk
WSRA Trustee meeting report 11 November 2024
Previous Meeting – The minutes of the previous meeting on 14 October were approved as an accurate record and are available for members to read in the members area of this website.
- Governance – Trustees approved updated policies M3 and H1.
- Trustees agreed to invest in a new and updated CRM system to better facilitate the charity’s work.
- WSRA Locomotives –
- 4561 – Trustees approved a spend of £120,703 with Rileys and BES, to enable the work necessary up to the point when the boiler is ready to be presented to the frames for final alignment, estimated to be 6 months work. Trustees also approved (subject to agreement from the PLC GM) a proposal from a volunteer team, led by Dave Hurd at MD, to build a pair of new tanks for the loco. The likely cost is £30k using volunteer labour.
- Supporting WSR PLC capital projects and winter works
- BL Loco compound shed roof reinstatement
- Tribble bridge – reinstatement and upgrading work by contractors.
- Station platforms – work to deal with trip hazards at WN and BA
- Tamper hire for 10 days
The Trustees agreed to support the following projects:
The support offered is up to £183,000 and subject to agreed terms.