The Outstation sign which is a silhouette of a steam engine.

Project 5: Volunteer Development Programme

A room at The Outstation with blue upholstered wooden bench seats.

Project Concluded

We have invested in volunteering including creating new volunteer opportunities across our departments and providing training and support to help volunteer development. We have also created the Outstation at Stape - a residential centre providing high quality volunteer accommodation.

Original Project Statements

Volunteers are absolutely vital to our operation. From the historic work of volunteers who enabled the railway to reopen in 1973, through to the input of over 1100 volunteers today, every one makes an invaluable contribution.

The Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey project has supported the appointment of a new Head of volunteer Development to focus on volunteering. This is helping us explore new ways to engage potential volunteers and to create new volunteer roles within the railway. This post will ensure that a sustainable flow of volunteers is in place for the future when the project ends.

We are working on:

  • Identifying new sources of volunteers, particularly in the urban centres neighbouring the North York Moors.
  • Improving our records management including a brand new skills database.
  • Identify the volunteer skills and expertise necessary to support our operational requirements and complement the work of our paid staff.
  • Exploring opportunities to expand and develop our agreements with external companies who offer volunteer workers as part of their training and development within their own organisations.
  • Working with potential employers to identify how they can be supported to benefit from volunteers at the railway working in their own organisations.
  • Exploring ways for young people aged 16-18 to move into mainstream volunteering and ways to support them.

We also aspire to remove barriers to volunteering and help attract a new generation of volunteers - the future custodians of the railway. We also want to increase the demographic of our volunteers and offer opportunities across all ages, backgrounds and experience. These may be people who have not previously thought of volunteering or maybe not even heard of the railway. To help broaden our volunteer base we will offer a range of ways to support us - with regular, committed, long-term volunteering at one end and shorter term, bite-sized, easy to access opportunities at the other. 

Find out more about all our current volunteering opportunities.

The Outstation at Stape

The Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey project has also supported the creation of a brand new Volunteering Development Hub and outreach centre – The Outstation. This was formerly the old school at Stape. This unique centre is fully equipped and has 10 bedrooms that can accommodate up to 22 people. This means we can provide both a high standard of volunteer accommodation and use the centre to connect us with new audiences. Our vision is to use the centre to introduce a more diverse range of people to the railway including families, young people, volunteers and community groups and to work alongside organisations to enrich their own employer-supported volunteering programmes. Guests will be able to participate in conservation projects as well as with preservation, maintenance and mechanical initiatives and we hope to ignite the start of a long-term relationship with the railway.

This project represents a huge investment in our future sustainability and the delivery of our objectives as a charity. Your donations are crucial to help support projects like this and inspire the future generation of railway custodians. Thank you.