Volunteering at a heritage railway as a non UK citizen.

[FEPEU]

Hello there!
I am a German citizen and am currently looking into possibly volunteering at a UK heritage railway during the summer. Are there any visa requirements and what must one look out for if one is planning to? Thank you in advance for any possible information!

 

[StephenHunter]

I think you might well need a visa as you're doing work that isn't covered by a Standard Visitor arrangement:

Work in the UK - GOV.UK

Skilled Worker visa, Graduate visa, other work visas, right to work

www.gov.uk

 

[FEPEU]

I think you might well need a visa as you're doing work that isn't covered by a Standard Visitor arrangement:

Work in the UK - GOV.UK

Skilled Worker visa, Graduate visa, other work visas, right to work

www.gov.uk

The problem is I under volunteering there’s a section that I’m not allowed to do anything that generates the organization profit? Idk how that’s supposed to work?

 

[StephenHunter]

The problem is I under volunteering there’s a section that I’m not allowed to do anything that generates the organization profit? Idk how that’s supposed to work?

You're basically helping them generate profit by your volunteering, I'd say.

 

[FEPEU]

You're basically helping them generate profit by your volunteering, I'd say.

Exactly why I was wondering how exactly that’d work XD

 

[rustbucket]

Exactly why I was wondering how exactly that’d work XD

Minor technicality here... as a registered charity it wouldn't be a profit but an operating surplus

 

[renegademaster]

Lots of heritage railways are either only Ltd companies or have a commercial wing and a charity wing, which will make things messy

 

[The exile]

Lots of heritage railways are either only Ltd companies or have a commercial wing and a charity wing, which will make things messy

Mind you - anything volunteers do must surely come under the charitable arm, otherwise the minimum wage would apply, surely. Talking about official activities - not just manning the till in the job while the paid person nips to the loo.

 

[Titfield]

I wonder if this is being over thought. There is no contract of employment and there is no payment made to the volunteer.

Volunteering is not work.

If you look at the .gov.uk pages on volunteering they are very careful not to use the word "work" at all because "work" (and what it implies in terms of contractual and legal responsibilities) and "volunteering" are mutually exclusive.

EDIT

Having investigated further it is a bit more complicated but if you are a volunteer and not a voluntary worker you are good to go.

See https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-gu...rom-overseas/#volunteering-and-voluntary-work

 

[renegademaster]

otherwise the minimum wage

A commercial company can pay your nothing, hence why you have internships. They just can't pay anything more than nothing but less than minimum. Unless you are an apprentice

 

[Belperpete]

How long are you intending to spend volunteering? If you are only going to be spending a week or two, I doubt anyone is going to notice. However, if you are talking about spending six months here, or repeatedly coming here such that the total days per year are significant, then you might be questioned.

Bear in mind that roles like becoming a driver are likely to require a significant amount of training.

 

[philthetube]

You're basically helping them generate profit by your volunteering, I'd say.

If you volunteer for a railway showing a loss that should sort this issue.

 

[D6130]

I would just come over as a tourist - for which you are permitted to stay for up to 90 days - and then quietly go and volunteer on a heritage railway. Nobody is going to bother you!

 

[StephenHunter]

I would suggest getting legal advice in this matter.

 

[30907]

I would suggest getting legal advice in this matter.

I would take the NCVO advice linked upthread as authoritative.

@FEPEU you should be aware that some/many/all railways will want an interview, and may offer a general induction as well as role-specific training. That said, volunteers are in short supply (here as there) and I am sure (as a volunteer myself) you will be welcomed.

 

[etr221]

Not yet mentioned is that most, if not all, heritage railways require volunteers to be members of the relevant preservation society - the ability to be a volunteer is shown as a benefit of membership - and this is normally (if not always) required for insurance reasons (if no other).

So I would suggest that probably the first thing to do is choose which railway you to wish to volunteer at, and then contact them - I think most of the larger operations have some sort of volunteer co-ordinator as a first point of contact - as to how they do things: whether they will know anything about visa requirements I've no idea.

Are you volunteering at all in Germany? If so, does wherever you volunteer at have any links with the UK? (I know some British lines do have 'twinning' links with lines in Europe, but I've no details)

It might also be worth contacting the Heritage Railway Association (https://www.hra.uk.com/), who are the 'trade body' for preserved railways, and may be able to advise, or point you in an appropriate direction.

 

[Belperpete]

Some railways may require you to be a member of the supporting society, but certainly not all. But the advice to contact the railway beforehand is good. They should hopefully be able to advise you on where to stay (many railways have their own hostels, sleeping coaches or similar, or if not can advise you of the best local accomodation for volunteering purposes). Also what clothing and footwear you will need for whatever role you want to undertake. And of course who to contact on your first day.

 

[Titfield]

Some railways may require you to be a member of the supporting society, but certainly not all. But the advice to contact the railway beforehand is good. They should hopefully be able to advise you on where to stay (many railways have their own hostels, sleeping coaches or similar, or if not can advise you of the best local accomodation for volunteering purposes). Also what clothing and footwear you will need for whatever role you want to undertake. And of course who to contact on your first day.

Some heritage railways invite the prospective volunteer to an informal chat and behind the scenes tour of the railway so that both parties can see if it is a "good fit".

EDIT

The requirement to be a member of the supporting society seems to be in decline as it is seen to be a barrier to recruiting volunteers.

 

[paul1609]

Most railways will have contact details on their website with a contact form. This is ours https://kesr.org.uk/volunteering/
The Volunteer Liason Officer (other titles are available) will mostly have a full time job, ours is a conductor on Southeastern so the contact form is the best way to reach them and will likely get a better response than phoning a general enquiries phone number.
We do require you to be a member but there is a complimentary membership for the first few visits and working membership is only £13 pa
Being close to the border we do get a lot of overseas volunteers including working parties from our twin railway Baie de la Somme. We have a regular driver who lives in Dubai, a Fireman who comes from Canada and there is currently a loco cleaner from Bolivia back for his second year.
Theres also a lot of staff shared with other railways who often come to Kent for their holidays, off the top of my head we have regular visitors from NYMR, Swanage, Bluebell, Spa, ELR, WSR, Bolton Abbey, Middleton, NNR, WHR/FFestiniog, theres others.

 

[70014IronDuke]

...
Being close to the border we do get a lot of overseas volunteers including working parties from our twin railway Baie de la Somme. We have a regular driver who lives in Dubai, a Fireman who comes from Canada and there is currently a loco cleaner from Bolivia back for his second year.
Theres also a lot of staff shared with other railways who often come to Kent for their holidays, off the top of my head we have regular visitors from NYMR, Swanage, Bluebell, Spa, ELR, WSR, Bolton Abbey, Middleton, NNR, WHR/FFestiniog, theres others.

That's amazing! The K&ESR must be extremely friendly and well managed to attract such a variety of loyal volunteers, or ... nice girls in the area? (Perhaps my parents shouldn't have moved away - as nipper I played in some of the orchards two miles from Headcorn when the K&ESR still ran hop-pickers specials!)

@FEPEU - Please come back and tell us how you get on. If you're from Bavaria and you choose the K&ESR you'll feel at home, lots of Hopfen around, just the beer's warm Oh, and they driver on the left, but you'll have to get used to that anyway.

 

[paul1609]

Our twin railway the Baie de la somme pulled off a bit of a PR coup this week with coverage on the 1 o'clock news, the video in French features several volunteers who also come to the KESR

Point de vue unique sur la baie - Journal de 13 heures | TF1

Patrick est chef de train. Aujourd'hui, il fait voyager une centaine de personnes à travers la baie de Somme. À bord d'un train qui date d'un siècle, il a dans sa main une poinçonneuse, et sur son visage, un large sourire. Cet ancien cheminot est devenu bénévole du petit train pour son plus...

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