ON Sunday, July 24, the West Somerset Railway will be running a special volunteer recruitment train.

This is an opportunity for a free ride to see what volunteering on the West Somerset Railway is all about.

The railway has vacancies in most departments. Volunteers can work as little as a day a month, or as much as you like, and full training is given where necessary.

People can travel on the 10am service from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard or the 12.30pm service from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead on July 24 and meet some of the volunteers who keep the railway running.

Refreshments will be supplied, and you will be free to travel back on any scheduled service.

Volunteering at the West Somerset Railway requires no previous railway experience.

Not all jobs involve getting dirty and there are also some jobs that you can do if you are not fully mobile. Vacancies for volunteers exist in all departments.

Customer-facing jobs include the booking office, platform staff, retail, catering, or our information office at Minehead.

Some jobs are a little more physical, including gardening and travelling ticket inspectors. Any training needed will be provided and medical may be required in some safety-critical positions.

You will be working with other volunteers, all of whom are there because they enjoy working on the railway, freely giving up their time to support the railway.

Those who volunteer do so for all sorts of reasons.
Many people have no previous railway experience, and it is a chance to develop new skills or new interests.

Travel is free of charge to those 18 and over only.