Departments and Opportunities

THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO HELP

Volunteers help run every department at the Centre and assist with administration and other work away from the site. The list below highlights some of the opportunities available.

Locomotives

Whether they are under restoration, running trains, on display or being overhauled, our locomotives need plenty of care and attention.

Carriage & Wagon

Restoring and maintaining our fleet of passenger coaches and wagons in good working order is a never ending task.

Train Operations

We run Steam Days on around 100 days every year, with a minimum of 8 operating staff needed each day. For a busy special event, this can rise to more than 20.

Visitor Experience

Welcoming, entertaining, informing and generally looking after the 50,000 or so visitors that make tracks to the Centre each year is vital to our continued success. Lots of the roles, require no previous experience and can be undertaken on a flexible or part-day basis. Whether it's selling tickets, making sandwiches, serving in the gift shop, being a costumed re-enactor, giving guided tours or stewarding in the museum, you will be made very welcome.

Site Repairs and Maintenance

Our 21-acre site houses many vintage buildings (some of which are Listed) requiring repairs and maintenance, while new facilities require new accommodation or the rebuilding of historic structures saved from elsewhere. There's also grass to mow, gardens to tend and IT and telephone systems to look after.

Education/Information

The Centre is a popular destination for school visits and we're always looking for volunteers able to help as guides.  School visits are mainly midweek - usually on one of Wednesdays Steam Days. (Contact Rod King)

Museum & Archive

Cataloguing, research using, and conservation of the 100s of artefacts in the Great Western Trust collection. (Contact Peter Jones)

Young Volunteers

Members aged 11 - 16 can join the Young Volunteers group which meets monthly and assist, under supervision, in the work of the Centre. 

• Locomotives
• Carriage & Wagon
• Train Operations
• Visitor Experience Team
• Site Repairs and Maintenance
• Engineering Department
• Non-Operational Locomotives Group
• Young Volunteers

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