Helen Ashby interviewed by Matthew Hick

Oral history interview with Helen Ashby conducted and recorded by Matthew Hick on 24 March 2014, at the National Railway Museum. Duration: 27 minutes. Early involvement with NRM, registry clerk, July 1982, junior curator, January 1983, monitored hours that FNRM volunteers were giving overhauling Duchess of Hamilton and Mallard; 1985 events for NRM 10th Anniversary, gala, station hall opening, volunteer involvement, meeting Rob Tibbits and Adrian Ashby, went out on Duchess of Hamilton, October 1985, volunteered on Duchess of Hamilton; [00:03:00] support crew member; Duchess of Hamilton, background information, Scarborough Spa Express; [00:05:10] impact on staff when they were told they could not help as support crew; bad feeling, feelings improved when staff joined volunteers as support crew; Number of people volunteering as support crew, details; restoration of Mallard, Mallard and Evening Star operating on Scarborough Spa express; [00:06:50] what management was in place for volunteers, via the Friends of NRM (FNRM), John Peck, Rob Tibbetts, John Belwood, 1986; memories of that time; Easter 1986 EMI Music Express Charter story, relationships; [00:11:40] volunteer duties as support crew, looking after engine fire, providing food for support crew volunteers, cleaning, oiling engine, end of run disposal; Tuesday night team; engine cleaning, preparing Station Hall so Great Hall could be refurbished; Interpretation Plan for the Station Hall, selection of iconic vehicles and some needing restoration, helped improve collection, Richard Gibbon reaction, Tuesday night team established, other people joined; [00:16:00] how volunteer projects were set up and managed; Richard Gibbon; relationship between workshop staff and volunteers; projects HA was involved with, painting LMS brake van, LNWR box van, Starfish van; Tuesday night team; City of Truro story; [00:19:00] Locomotive memories, Hodbarrow, Invictus; how volunteering changed over the years; initially ad hoc via FRNM, Great Railway Show changes, changes in duty museum assistants' role, Information Point volunteers, volunteer co-ordinator appointed, management and supervision of volunteers became more important; [00:22:50] changes in relations between staff and volunteers; steam locomotive incident; Union position on volunteers not do anything which is the same as a paid member of staff, challenges as Museum expanded and funding was cut, more open attitude, important to make people feel valued; challenges in supervising volunteers; managing expectations, some volunteers find it hard to accept the management systems that have been put in place, examples [00:27:15] [end of interview]

Oral history recording made as part of a NRM oral history of volunteering initiative led by NRM volunteering team between 2012 and 2015, with the aim to record the voices of people sharing their volunteering experiences at the National Railway Museum, including NRM colleagues supervising volunteers.