Oral history interview with Don Collins conducted and recorded by Tony Steadman on 22 January 2015 at the interviewee’s home. Duration: 34 minutes. How he started volunteering at NRM, interest in railways, involvement with Friends of NRM (FNRM); Information Points, managed by Clare Evans; started volunteering in 1995; career as civil servant, worked at Chilwell, moved to York; [00:05:00] volunteer recruitment interview with Clare Evans, social aspects of volunteering; knowledge of railways; training with visitor experience courses; [00:10:00] evacuation instruction; miniature railway; training with Richard Gibbon; diesel hydraulic power; [00:15:00] difficult to start engine; took over roster; top and tail with two locomotives and two crew; very flexible volunteers; [00:20:00] new layout needed more drivers; started in 2015; [break in recording] trained as a guard; passed stricter exams for guarding; [00:25:00] Volunteer Awards event at Christmas; relationship with explainers, not so much affinity now due to their change in role; [00:30:00] help from staff in early days; not so much now; 20 years a volunteer; change in ways volunteers are managed, supervised, now use team leaders [00:34:12] [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.