It is now easier than ever to become a volunteer at the Bluebell Railway.

If you are interested in volunteering, you can contact our dedicated volunteer coordinator Graham Aitken by emailing: volunteer.coordinator@bluebell-railway.com

We will then talk to you about the roles you are interested in and arrange a visit so you can find out more.

Graham said: “Earlier this year after being interviewed for and appointed to the post of Volunteer Coordinator, I have been determined to introduce a simple system whereby potential volunteers can actually speak to a real person and discuss roles in which they are interested in undertaking. Hopefully they can agree a date when the potential volunteer can visit the railway to either learn more or to start their new career as a volunteer.”

There are over 50 roles that can be undertaken by volunteers, and these are shown on the following list, which also gives broad details of any qualifications or skills needed, or preferred.

We also require a commitment from you to attend regularly, usually a minimum of twice a month, although this will depend on which role you undertake. Note that some roles are only required on specific dates or periods and this information will be clarified when you are contacted to discuss you preferred role.

 

Estates Manager

We are recruiting a volunteer Estates Manager to improve on the management of the Bluebell Railway’s land ownership.

Reporting to the Infrastructure Director, the post holder will be responsible for all aspects of estate management, including:

• Dealing with boundary issues and encroachments, including up-dating Land Registry documentation if necessary.
• Managing leases (residential & commercial), licences and any land sales. This could include dealing with negotiations.
• Preparing and maintaining a database of wayleaves, easements and licences.
• Advising and assisting with applications for planning consent.
• Preparing Board reports and papers.

The post carries no remuneration or specific hours of duty. However, the successful applicant will require sufficient time and flexibility to be present at the railway to effectively undertake this role and will have experience in estates management and related activities.

If you believe you have the right qualifications for this job and would like to discuss the opportunity, please email your CV and contact details to lisa.boyle@bluebell-railway.com or contact 01825 724884.

Carriage Cleaners

• Are you always impressed by the presentation of our carriages when you visit the railway?
• Have you ever wondered how this happens?
• Would you like to become a volunteer Carriage Cleaner responsible for the cleanliness – outside and in – of our passenger carriages?

If you answered YES to all three of the questions, we would be delighted to hear from you. Our railway is currently looking for six new carriage cleaners to join our Sheffield Park based team, ready for the start of our 2022 season, beginning in February. Contact Graham Aitken at: volunteer.coordinator@bluebell-railway.com to ensure that the Carriage Cleaning Team Leader, Tom Lawson, has a very Happy New Year.

Carriage and Wagon Works

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Horsted Keynes	Mechanical Engineers	CV detailing qualifications or evidence of experience as, for example, fabricators, fitters, mechanics or welders.	On-site interview will be held to discuss qualifications and frequency of attendance
Horsted Keynes	Carriage restoration	Skills, or a willingness to learn woodworking, electronics, metalwork, painting and plumbing.	Regular
Horsted Keynes	Seat upholstery	Basic knowledge of woodwork and working with fabrics. Full training will be given.	Regular
Horsted Keynes	Goods van and wagon restoration	Skills, or willingness to learn of carpentry, metalwork and painting.	Regular

Catering

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and East Grinstead	Front of House	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Regular
On train	Buffet car attendants	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Regular
On train	Fish and Chip train stewards	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Regular – mainly Friday evenings
On train	Santa and SteamLights stewards	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Santa – December daytimes SteamLights – November and December evenings
On train	Great Northern Saloon stewards	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Occasional

Commercial

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park	Customer service assistants	Computer literate, organised, good communicator, methodical with excellent interpersonal skills.	Commitment to regular days and hours
Sheffield Park	On train guides	Customer facing – must be able to talk to people.	Weekly
Sheffield Park	Education coordinator and assistants	Skilled in communicating to primary and secondary school children. Must be able to communicate with interest and passion.	Weekly
Sheffield Park	Marketing assistants	Working knowledge of Serif for graphic design. Ability to talk to customers and act on feedback. Skills in developing and delivering training programmes.	Weekly
Sheffield Park	Speakers to give talks and lectures about Bluebell	Good knowledge about our railway and a confident speaker to businesses, clubs and rest homes. Skills in developing and delivering training programmes.	Occasional
Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes	Wedding assistant	Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to help with the setting up before and clearing up after each wedding.	Occasional
Sheffield Park	Santa assistant	Help with decorations, packing presents, stacking presents and delivering them to other stations. Own transport required.	Seasonal daytimes (November and December)
Sheffield Park	SteamLights assistant	As part of the delivery team for this event you will need to be able to undertake tasks in a timely and detailed fashion.	Seasonal evenings (November and December)
Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and East Grinstead	Events staff	Assorted roles such as meeting and greeting visitors, car parking attendants, and putting up and taking down tents.	Occasional

Infrastructure

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Horsted Keynes	Permanent Way engineers	Must be fit, able and willing to work outdoors undertaking tasks that include track maintenance and renewals, lineside clearance, lineside fencing and buildings maintenance.	Regular or occasional depending on activity
Horsted Keynes	Signal assistant technician	An individual who will enjoy working in a small team maintaining and faulting mechanical and electrical infrastructure. Must be reasonably fit and enjoy working outside, in inclement weather during emergencies. Ideally have experience in electrical and/or mechanical engineering, but positions are also available in more physical applications. Training in the black art of railway signalling is the department’s speciality.	Team usually meets daytime on Wednesdays and Sundays. There are currently no vacancies for Signal assistant technicians and a waiting list has been created. If this is a role that you are interested in, why not apply to join the waiting list and until a vacancy occurs why not consider applying for one of the other 50+ roles while you wait?
Horsted Keynes	Assistant telecommunications technician	An individual who will enjoy working in a small team maintaining and faulting mechanical and electrical infrastructure. Must be reasonably fit and enjoy working outside, in inclement weather during emergencies. Ideally will have experience in telecoms equipment.	Team usually meets daytime on Saturdays There are currently no vacancies for Signal assistant technicians and a waiting list has been created. If this is a role that you are interested in, why not apply to join the waiting list and until a vacancy occurs why not consider applying for one of the other 50+ roles whilst you wait?
Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and East Grinstead	Friends of each station groups	General DIY maintenance group with skills in bricklaying, carpentry, electrics, gardening, painting and plumbing welcomed.	Regular

 

Loco Works

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park	Mechanical engineers	CV detailing qualifications or evidence of experience as, for example, machinists, fabricators, welders and fitters.	On-site interview will be held to discuss qualifications and frequency of attendance
Sheffield Park Atlantic House	Mechanical engineers	CV detailing qualifications or evidence of experience as, for example, machinists, fabricators, welders and fitters.	On-site interview will be held to discuss qualifications and frequency of attendance

 

Museum

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park	Stewards	A person who will enjoy welcoming visitors, both adults and children, to our exciting museum. (Knowledge of the history of railways is not necessary).	Regular
Holmwood/ Home	Archive team	Good communications skills, use of PC, basic knowledge of MS Excel. Ability and knowledge to catalogue photographs. Experience making high resolution scans of photos, negatives and slides. Experience using image editing software. (It is not necessary to have all of these skills.)	Regular (monthly) and as necessary at home to meet timescales

 

Operations

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and East Grinstead	Station staff	Interpersonal skills. Full training will be given.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Booking Office Clerks	Good interpersonal skills, plus a good head for figures, and a knowledge of the Railway so as to answer questions from our visitors and to sell them tickets	Regular
Sheffield Park	Passenger train guard	Must be a safety qualified member of station staff.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Goods train guard	Must be a qualified Passenger train guard.	Occasional
Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes and Kingscote	Signal (wo)men	Must be a safety qualified member of station staff.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Engine cleaners	Full training will be given.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Fire (wo)men	Must be a qualified engine cleaner.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Drivers	Must be a qualified Fire(wo)man.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Shunters	Operations experience necessary with top up training given.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Carriage cleaners	Full training will be given.	Regular
Sheffield Park	Operations clerk	Good computer skills to maintain the Operations competency system – BROOSS,	Regular
On train	Travelling ticket inspectors (train guides)	Good interpersonal skills and willingness to speak to passengers about what to see and do at the Bluebell Railway.	Regular (From Spring 2022)

 

Personnel

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park	Personnel and admin assistants	Absolute discretion, an eye for detail and must be organised.	Regular

 

Retail

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park	Shop assistants	Excellent interpersonal skills and commercially minded.	Regular
Horsted Keynes	Shop assistants	Excellent interpersonal skills and able to work on own.	Regular
Online Shop	Shop assistants	Good working knowledge of computer and website skills and required to package and post online purchases.	Regular

Bluebell Railway Trust

Where	What	Qualifications/skills needed	Commitment
Sheffield Park/ Home	Funding Manager	Ability to work with the Trust Governors to help with finance ongoing restoration of heritage assets and in the future of the railway. Key attributes required are use of initiative, versatility and the ability to get on with people.	Regular
Sheffield Park/ Home	Management Accountant	Must be a qualified accountant or have extensive computerised accounting systems. Key attributes are experience of versatility and the ability to get on with people.	Regular