Support and Fundraising
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WRA Conference and AGM - Saturday 21 June
The Association’s Board has decided this year to change the venue and the format for the Annual General Meeting. The hope is that the changes will produce a more stimulating event, with more opportunity for members to participate and ask questions, and more chance to socialise. The formal AGM business will not take place until the end of the afternoon.
The venue will be the Golden Lion Hotel in the High Street, Northallerton. For people coming by rail, this is about a 10 minute walk from Northallerton railway station. There is car parking space at the back of the hotel, which will be reserved for WRA members. Members staying for one or two nights can book accommodation in the hotel at discounted rates, but will be responsible for making their own bookings at the Golden Lion (01609 7774111) or elsewhere.
The first part of the day will be a Conference, starting at 11 a.m. with registration and coffee. There will be a charge of £5 for the Conference, but morning coffee and afternoon tea are included in this price. There will be no charge for any member who only wishes to attend the AGM, which will start at 4 p.m.
At lunch time there will be a substantial finger buffet available, to be booked in advance. Members will have the option of eating outside the hotel. There will be a bar open, so that there can be opportunity for some relaxed conversation amongst friends.
After the completion of the AGM, a members’ train, free of charge, will run from Leeming Bar at around 6.30 p.m. The Wensleydale Railway plc has offered this to the WRA without cost. We hope to have light refreshments on the train.
Details of the whole day’s programme are still being finalised, but we hope to have a full session devoted to the Northallerton Link, and afternoon sessions reporting on the Spring Blockade (Operation Spring Clean) and providing an ‘Any Questions’ panel.
All members will receive full information and a booking form in late May. However, we hope that members will put the date in their diaries, and if coming from a distance, perhaps make a pleasant weekend out of the occasion.
Meet the Management Team
Click on the name to see a profile of each member of the WRA Ltd Management
Board.
 Angus Maude Chairman | ||
 David Gibson Vice Chairman |  David Haxby General Secretary |
|
 Peter Guy |  Ken Monkman |  Amanda Pearson |
 Mike Sheehan |  John Thompson |  Robert Whitehouse |
WRA Membership
By becoming a member of the WRA, you will be supporting this exciting and unique railway reinstatement project. You may wish to join one of our local branches and attend meetings and social events; you will also have the opportunity to play a more active part by becoming a volunteer (working on the trains, the track or the stations). A subscription to the regular WRA Magazine "Relay" is included in the membership fee.
Please join now to help us :
- promote the line and increase passenger numbers and revenue
- increase the frequency of existing train services
- extend operations East to Northallerton and West to Aysgarth
- complete the reinstatement of the entire line
- provide a lifeline for residents without cars
- offer a choice of travel modes
- reduce congestion and pollution
- provide a fully integrated bus and rail service
- offer an opportunity to remove freight from the roads
Membership Rates 2008
Individual Annual £15 Individual (unwaged) Annual £12 Individual Junior Annual (min age 14 max age 18) £9 Individual Five Year £75 Individual Life £400 Joint Life (2 named adults at same address) £600 Household Annual £22 Household Five Year £110 Corporate (organisations/businesses) Annual £60 Corporate Five Year £300
Click here to download and print an Application Form
Click to read the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Email for further information or write to WRA Ltd, PO Box 159,Richmond,DL10 9AA.
Members' Travel Concessions and Other Discounts
WRA Members can currently benefit from the following :
Travel Concessions 2008 |
Members showing a valid WRA membership card can claim the following concessions on Wensleydale Railway scheduled services throughout the period of the 2008 timetable except for WR special events. |
Aysgarth Holiday Cottage |
£50 off certain dates for WRA members |
Driver Experience Days |
Members can book a Driver Experience Day for the reduced price of £200 |
Other Discounts |
Advertisers in Relay Magazine frequently offer discounts to WRA members. |
Relay Magazine
Relay, the WRA magazine, is normally published three times per year and is mailed to all WRA members. Copies can also be purchased at the Wensleydale Railway sales outlets at Leeming Bar and Leyburn stations.
 | Relay 48 (March - June 2008) |
The Editorial Team welcomes articles, photographs and letters. Relay 49 will be published in early July and contributions for that issue should be received by Monday 12 May.
Shop or Search Online and Support the WRA
 | If you shop online there is now a simple, easy and FREE way for you to support the Wensleydale Railway Association. Best of all, you can even save money ! |
We've teamed up with easyfundraising who provide a shopping directory listing some of your favourite online stores. Over 500 popular retailers participate including Amazon, Play.com, Toys 'R' Us, Dell, John Lewis, Woolworths, HMV, Comet and Vodafone.
All you need to do is use the links provided on the easyfundraising site whenever you shop online and, at no extra cost, we will receive up to 15% of every purchase you make. It's that simple !
It doesn't cost a penny extra to shop and raise funds in this way and you can even SAVE money as many retailers give exclusive discounts and savings when you shop using the easyfundraising site.
If you shop online anyway why not help raise extra funds for us by using this completely FREE service.
Visit easyfundraising and when you register select Wensleydale Railway Association as the organisation you wish to support.
You can also raise money every time you do an online search with easysearch. Make easysearch your search engine of choice!
As at 11 May 2008, WRA has received £389 (via 61 supporters) from easyfundraising and easysearch.
EasyFundraising Referral Scheme
The WRA can raise extra money by introducing other groups or charities to easyfundraising. The WRA will earn 20% of whatever the other group raise without this in any way affecting the amount raised by that group. So both the WRA and the other group benefit.
To refer another group in this way please ask them to join easyfundraising by using this WRA link.
As at 11 May we now have one referred organisation from which we have earned £3.88.
Friends of Aysgarth Station
Contact David Gibson
Aysgarth Station and the associated railway buildings were purchased by the Wensleydale Railway some years ago and form probably the best example of a complete NER country station. This year marks the 130th anniversary of its opening in 1877.
Because Aysgarth Station has yet to join the operational railway it is not high on the priority list for funding. Nevertheless the building needs regular maintenance to keep the structure in good order until it returns to railway use and of course upgrading the interior will benefit the visitors to the holiday cottage.
The really good news is that we now have some local volunteers who are providing a means to get work done. However they need some help, which is why we have set up "Friends of Aysgarth Station (FOAS)" to provde that vital support by raising money, acquiring appropriate equipment and possibly by wielding a paint brush.
The Friends of Aysgarth Station will operate within the framework of the WRA so any monies raised will be managed within the main WRA account and reports on progress will be made via existing channels, namely RELAY magazine and this website. To keep the administration to a minimum there will be no additional subscription to become a Friend of Aysgarth Station.
If you would like to help or receive more information please register your interest by email or write to FOAS c/o Handsel House, Walden Close, Great Totham, CM9 8UJ.
March Update from David Gibson :
February saw a major task completed with the replacement of kitchen cupboards, sink, taps and worktop all fitted by a team of volunteers. The kitchen units and sink were donated, but we had to purchase the worktop as well as the sundry materials. See picture below.
The east facing section of roofing over the living room has been replaced, including new timber battens, roof felt and slates and should now be good for many decades of Dales winters. This represents only about 15% of the total roof structure but it is a good start and more will be done as funds become available. A replacement barge board has also been fitted to the south facing elevation of the station house.
Painting of the outside of the "cottage" windows progressed through the autumn and more will done in the Spring.
We have also acquired some good quality items for the living area including a larger TV, a unit to stand it on and a bookcase, internal decorations have been tidied up where required.
We have a prioritised work plan which can be delivered through our team of volunteers. Raising the funds to pay for materials etc. is more difficult as Aysgarth is competing with many other worthy projects, not to mention WRA members own financial constraints. However, we have a very efficient eBay team and it never ceases to amaze me what they manage to convert into cash; they have already raised £350 from selling old bits of model railway equipment found in a loft.
If you have something you don't need any more, send me an email and I will give you a view based on condition, size and of course where it is located.
We have made a great start over the last six months, let's keep up the momentum.
If you would like to help the Friends of Aysgarth Station please send a donation to the address above.
Aysgarth Station Cottage Kitchen (David Gibson)
Donations
Money
Donations to either the WRA or the Wensleydale Railway Trust (WRT) to help progress the reinstatement of the railway are welcome at all times. The WRA is not a charity and may use donated funds in line with the aims of the Association on any project of its choosing. The WRT is a charity and is permitted to spend money only on activities relating to its charitable purposes (see below). Donations made to the WRT may qualify for Gift Aid.
Donations in excess of £91,000 were received in response to the WRA "Financial Angels" appeal.
A "Development Fund" has been created to support major projects on the railway, such as permanent maintenance/workshop facilities. These projects would be in co-operation with the plc. A minor works fund has also been created.
Goods
The Association also accepts donations of items for re-sale by auction, normally either in arrangement with Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn or online through the WRA eBay team. These are important and proven fund-raising mechanisms.
Goods do not have to be railway or transport related and will be appraised and categorised for specialist sale if appropriate. Please contact Richard Tinker on 01765 698068 or email for auctions at Tennants ; contact the WRA eBay Team or telephone Stuart Thompson on 01904 750058 for eBay donations(WRA).
For FOLS eBay donations please contact Tim Walls on 01423 568824 or by email.
Current items on the WRA eBay pages can be viewed here (WRA) or here (WRA-FOLS.
Cash for cartridges
The WRA can receive money by recycling empty printer cartridges.
Most ink cartridges (but not laser toner cartridges) can be accepted except Epson and Brother. The Cash for Cartridges website gives full details.
You can leave these cartridges at the following locations :
(1) in the collection box just inside the signing-on room at Leeming Bar Station.
(2) The Computer Shop in the Gartway Arcade, Northallerton
Or if these are not convenient for you then you can post them in a suitable box or envelope free of charge to
Cash for Cartridges , FREEPOST RLZL-EUJG-ZYEL, 13 Main Street, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5AA
quoting Account Reference R00553.
Without the account reference the value of the cartridge cannot be credited to the WRA account.
This is an environmentally- friendly scheme which could make us a lot of money if everyone co-operates. In the first instance the money will help to defray the cost of the toilets for the disabled at Leeming Bar.
For more information contact David Haxby by email or on 01845 526893.
Wensleydale Railway Trust (WRT)
The Wensleydale Railway Trust Ltd is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, without share capital, established by the WRA in October 2000 to support and promote educational, heritage and other charitable aspects of the Wensleydale Railway. The Trust was set up, in part, to facilitate the acceptance of donations of money or materials from individuals or organisations only able to gift to a charity. In such circumstances a "mile of track" (ex-Settle and Carlisle line) was donated by Railtrack NorthWest in September 2001 to the WRT which has managed its use and incorporation into the railway.
The Trust can own assets in its own right (which it can permit to be used on the railway) and has purchased rolling stock (1929 built "Walrus" ballast hopper) for restoration. The costs of public displays and exhibitions (which help to educate the public about the past and present of the railway) are also a legitimate charge to the Trust's resources. The cost of training volunteers can also be supported by the Trust.
The Trust is run by a Council of five trustees. Individual membership of the WRT is available on payment of a subscription (minimum £10 per year). The Trust is keen to enlarge its member base and as its income increases it intends to play a more prominent part in the development of the railway than hitherto. Further details are available from the Company Secretary of the Trust and leaflets about the Trust are available in the Railway shops.
We are currently seeking a Minutes Secretary for the Trust. For details please see Latest Volunteer Situations Vacant on the Volunteer Vacancies Page.
The Foundation Fund
In issue 48 of Relay there was a reference to ‘the newly launched Foundation Fund’. What is this?
The Trust relies for most of its income on donations. It can, of course, apply for grants, and was recently successful in obtaining a grant from the lottery to help with the restoration of the North Wootton Signal Box. But after the work on the box has been completed it will remain in the ownership of the Trust and will have to be maintained.
It became clear to the directors of the Trust that to enable it to take on longer term and more substantial responsibilities, whether buildings or other commitments, it needed a more predictable income from invested funds which is additional to its fluctuating income from donations.
The Trust’s Council therefore resolved to establish a Foundation Fund. Money placed in this Fund would not be available for immediate use, but would be invested to provide income for future use. Donations totalling £2000 have already been received to enable the Fund to be opened.
In order to attract money for investment in the Foundation Fund, the Trust has established a new category of membership. A Foundation Member may be an individual or a corporate body making a single donation of at least £500. An individual Foundation Member will be a member of the Trust for life with the same rights as other individual members. A corporate Foundation Member will be granted membership for 10 years, and at the end of this period a number of options will be available (see detailed terms).
The names of all Foundation Members will be listed prominently in the Annual Report of the Company (unless anonymity is requested). The support given by Corporate Foundation Members will also be publicly acknowledged whenever it seems appropriate, unless the member requests no publicity.
Anyone considering becoming a Foundation Member is invited to contact the Secretary of the Trust, David Haxby, by phone on 01845 526893, by email or by post to 1 The Croft, Sowerby, Thirsk, N Yorks YO7 1NZ.
Full details and an application form will then be provided.
Gift Aid
A charity is able to recover tax on money donated through the Gift Aid Scheme.
If you wish to make a donation to the WRT during your lifetime please contact the Company Secretary of the Trust to request a Gift Aid Declaration Form. If you are a taxpayer, completion of this form will enable the Trust to reclaim tax you have paid and will significantly increase the value of your gift by 28p for each £1 donated. Cheques should be made payable to "Wensleydale Railway Trust Ltd".
Please note that the Gift Aid Scheme cannot be used for WRA membership subscriptions or WRA donations. Similarly WRA subscriptions and donations cannot be made with "charity cheques".
Will Provisions
Suitable provisions can be made in your will to leave money to the Wensleydale Railway. If you nominate the WRT as the beneficiary then the bequest is free of Inheritance Tax. Click here for sample wordings.
Disclaimer : This area of the law is complex. Neither the WRA nor the WRT accept any liability for actions taken or not taken in relation to the issues addressed in this section and you are strongly advised to seek independent professional advice.