Membership change
THE requirement for East Lancashire Railway (ELR) volunteers to be members of the ELR Preservation Society has been dropped as of January 1, 2024. The ELR company board felt that this membership requirement could be seen as acting as a barrier to a more inclusive and diverse volunteer workforce and is contrary to guidance from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. The latter states:“Making volunteering more flexible is likely not just to remove practical barriers to participation for potential volunteers, but also provide a better experience for those already participating, reducing the feeling of their volunteering being formalised, bureaucratic and work-like.”
‘56XX’ overhaul