At the Workington Transport Heritage Trust, we have a number of volunteer opportunities across the various jobs we do, from working in our station shop, helping out with archives through to restoring and maintaining our fleet of historic buses.
With the help of all our volunteer’s especially in the past few years, we have achieved so much, this wouldn’t have been possible without the volunteer’s who have came to us over the past years many of which had no experience of the roles and jobs they are now good at. This is all down to use passing on the skills and knowledge we have, but those skills aren’t just limited to just buses.
New panels fitted to ALX300 X805-SRM, no small job as each panel had ro be lined up perfect.
We are always happy to welcome new volunteer’s to join us on our Tuesday and Sunday gang, as restoring buses is no small task, so below is a over view of the roles we offer and some FAQs.
Station Shop
Located in Workington railway station, our station shop is open from 9am to 2pm Monday to Friday, ran by some of our volunteer’s selling teas, coffees, snacks as well as taking bookings for our daytrips that run from February to December.
Vehicle Cleaning
When we get ready for our day trips and heritage trips, we give the vehicles a clean up both inside and out, sweeping and mopping the floor, hoovering seats, cleaning windows and giving the exterior a wash down using a pressure washer and brushes, We also do this on the first volunteer before and after each rally.
One of our O Licence buses receiving a wash following a couple days on Rail Replacement work
Vehicle Restoration
This is probably our biggest job we do, with jobs covering; full vehicle sanding with air sanders and water, undercoating and top coating paint with paint brushes. Interior refreshing interior paintwork on seat frames, grab rails and around the cab. We usually do the restoration work in spring and early summer, but through out the year we carry out running repairs; these involve body repair fixing panels with fiberglass and filler then sanding and painting to match them in to the bus. as well as touch up paint work both interior and exterior. This is a role that we recommend in not turning up in your Sunday best as it can get messy, but we do offer boilersuits.
FAQs
Q; I don’t have any experience in the role I’m interested in?
A; It’s okay if you don’t have any experience, as we offer training. Many of our volunteers started with us without any experience.
Q; I can only do the occasional day, will this be a issue?
A; For our station shop, we have a rota for who is in on that day, so if you let us know what days you are free then we will accommodate you. For vehicle restoration, we do this 2 days a week so you can let us know if you are attending.
Q; I don’t drive, how do I reach your sites?
A; Our shop has excellent transport links with bus stop outside. Our yard at Lillyhall is served by a half hourly bus service,
Q; I’m interested in volunteering, how do I enquire about joining?
A; If you are willing to join, simply give us a email or message us on social media and we will organise a day to come and join in.
Q; Do I need to bring anything to my first day volunteering?
A; Depending on which role you are interested in, the main item will be a willingness to learn and a ‘Can Do’ approach to work. For restoration work, we recommend old clothes or clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, but we do offer boiler suits and gloves to help keep you clean. We also offer refreshments.
So if you are looking for something to pass the time, or learn something new then get in touch, we will be more than happy to welcome you to our team.