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Members Update
8th June 2020
Welcome to the first Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway members only newsletter. The 'Weekly' Newsletter is available to the public whereas this will be distributed only to members. If you would like to opt-out of these emails, please use the link at the bottom this email.

Introduction


Well, these truly are interesting times! We were just finalising the arrangements for reopening in April when COVID-19 struck. It soon became clear that we could no longer attend the Railway let alone open to the public as lockdown was announced.

Since then, nominated individuals have been granted permission to access the Railway for security purposes. A big thank you to them for going out of their way as part of their daily exercise to check the Railway, they are: Peter Spratling, Alan King, Tim Peckham and Graham Collins.

It has been an interesting few weeks, the pedestrian level crossing gates at Burley Crossing were stolen very early on in lockdown, Alan evicted someone who was living in the platform shelter at Sittingbourne Viaduct station and Peter had to report a leaking pipe which was flooding Kemsley Down. Never a dull moment!

Peter and Tim have also been feeding the cats. Liz, John and Mike Fuller have delivered locomotive parts and stores to Kemsley Down. The main lawn outside the Footplate Café has been mown on various occasions but the hot, dry weather is having its toll on the grass. Alan has cut the grass at Sittingbourne Viaduct station, making it look used.

To save costs, due to the extended shutdown, the next edition of The New Bogie will be published in September.

These Members Updates will be published as and when required, particularly if there is something 'big' to announce - like this:

Preparing to reopen for members


The Railway will be reopening to members only on Saturday 13th June, however, this is not business as usual and special arrangements are required to show that we are managing the risk of COVID-19 exposure to members.

A list of tasks will be published, attached to this newsletter, and you may volunteer to take on a task but attendance will be rostered to ensure we keep within safe staffing limits on site at Kemsley Down, lineside and at Sittingbourne Viaduct.

Please do not just turn up on a whim as we will have to turn you away. You must also complete a COVID-19 Volunteer Screening Form which we will email to you when you offer to work at the Railway.

Most tasks are carried out in the open air so no additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be required. Signing on, the staff messroom and other areas will be restricted to only one person at a time.

There is no requirement or pressure for anyone to volunteer, it is entirely up to you. If you are shielding you should not volunteer but if you are over 70 and would like to volunteer, that is for you to decide.

If you are interested in volunteering, please email volunteer@sklr.net with the task you would like to do, the date and times you would like to attend.

There will be additional cleaning materials available and a socially distant tea & coffee regime so please bring your own lunch if you are likely to be on site for a while.

If you are working at Kemsley Down, access is allowed through the turnstile. No one can be given a lift to site. 

This is an excellent opportunity for us to press on with maintenance around the Railway until we are allowed to carry passengers again.
Email to volunteer

Tasks/Teams

Kemsley Down gardens
Kemsley Down site maintenance
Kemsley Down bush-bashing
Kemsley Down Locomotive Engineering
Kemsley Down Carriage & Wagon Department
Kemsley Down building maintenance
Kemsley Down Permanent Way (track gang)
Lineside bush bashing
Lineside Permanent Way
Sittingbourne Viaduct site maintenance
Sittingbourne Viaduct Permanent Way
Other - please advise if you would like to undertake any other duties.
Whilst the lineside has become overgrown between Sittingbourne Viaduct and Kemsley Down, around the latter it has been fighting to take over!

Reopening to the public


Due to the current ban on groups meeting and the risk of infection, the Railway will remain closed to the public until further notice.

The Board of Trustees will continue to review the Government guidelines and will use the Members Newsletter to explain when and how we will reopen to the public.
Volunteers Week 2020

Annual General Meeting postponed


The Railway's Annual General Meeting, scheduled for August, is to be held on 17th October subject to COVID-19 restrictions and accessibility.

Further updates will appear in later Members Updates or The New Bogie.

The Swale Migration Project


Historic Swale, of which the Railway is a member, is looking for young volunteers aged 11-18 years to lead an exciting exhibition of 100 objects to Swale.

Older volunteers are also being sought for your wisdom, experience and stories.

For more information, see the box below.

We need your help!


We have joined the Digital Attitudes and Skills for Heritage (DASH) project which is being run by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If you are a member of our Members Only Facebook Group you will have seen our call to action, don't worry if you haven't because here it is:

We are working with the National Lottery Heritage Fund to understand your attitudes to digital technology, about how you use it and how we can support you to use it.
 
The Digital Attitudes and Skills for Heritage (DASH) survey is open to all members of the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, whether working members or not. 
 
Your answers are anonymous and the Railway receives no feedback until 10 people have completed the survey. Questions are optional - if you're unsure, leave a question blank. The questions are also available here - https://www.timmuslimited.co.uk/dashsurvey/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DASH_Survey_English.pdf but it is preferred that you respond clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.
 
The questions are designed to:
  1. Help individuals to reflect on their digital attitudes and skills
  2. Help organisations collect data from those who work and volunteer for them, and use it to improve the way they use technology
  3. Help the National Lottery Heritage Fund to describe the digital attitudes and skills of people working across the UK heritage sector and share good practice.
There are 22 questions but it should only take about 8 minutes to complete.
 
You can learn more about the survey on the DASH Project website (https://www.timmuslimited.co.uk/dashsurvey/about-the-project/).
 
You can enter the survey here: https://www.research.net/r/XJC78M3?s=[5]&a=[es]&o=[189220]
 
This is open to current SKLR members only. The survey closes on 10th July.
 
Thank you for your help!

Would you like to talk trains?


Every Wednesday 4-6pm, Paul Best, Vice-Chairman, is ready and waiting to talk to anyone who'd like to, about trains. 

All through lockdown, Paul has been waiting for the calls and in recent weeks has been overjoyed to receive some! Starting this Wednesday (10th June) the calls will be held on Zoom. 

If you'd like to join in, go to https://zoom.us/j/95087558344?pwd=NVZkb2xJZENFcGdGakRqOFR2dzVWUT09 and enter the meeting ID 950 8755 8344. Click on the button below for the password.
Request Zoom meeting password

More news!


If you have any news or information you would like to see in either the members only or public newsletters, including photo of the week, please email them to newsletter@sklr.net
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