Get on track as a volunteer at the Wensleydale Railway’s Heritage Education Project

If you are 16 or over and are looking to give something back to your community, then there are some wonderful opportunities waiting for you over the summer. The Wensleydale Railway’s Heritage Education Project are ready to welcome more volunteers, with some great public-facing roles which are perfect for confidence building for presentations and interviews. Don’t just take our word for it, read on and hear how Cora Aked, Year 11 student, is enjoying supporting the project and how valuable she is finding the experience:

Cora said: “I began volunteering back in February when I read an article in the school newsletter about the Heritage Project, and being interested in history, I thought that it looked like an intriguing thing to get involved in. I reached out to Carrie who put me in a team to do some in-depth research about the different rooms in the station house. It’s quite challenging trying to find the exact information I want, particularly online, and since this kind of research is completely new to me, but as soon as you find just the right source, you go off on all sorts of fascinating tangents and it’s just brilliant! It is also wonderful to know that the research that I do will go on to be used in tours and open days at the Railway to teach the public about how it was used and what business would have been like in the 1920s.

“I’m definitely going to keep working for the railway – not only is it completely engrossing but the team are open to working around their volunteers. There’s no pressure to do a fixed amount each month, which I have found really helpful as I could step back for a while during the exam season, and now I hope to do a lot more with my free time over the summer. If you are interested, it’s certainly worthwhile having a look into it, as there’s stuff for everybody! You can dress up and give tours at the station house if you like getting involved with the public, you can research if you like history, you can help to redesign the house if you like art and construction. There are no limits!

You can find out more at Wensleydale Railway – volunteer or follow their facebook page.