Modern Electric Tramways – the charity who operate Seaton Tramway – are looking to strengthen their board membership to help with their continued development in the coming years. They want to increase numbers, knowledge, understanding and representation on the board and are welcoming applications from people from groups that are under-represented in the heritage railway sector, including young people, people with disabilities, people from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and people from the LGBTQ+ community.
The Tramway is led by Chief Executive, Jenny Nunn, with support from her management team and four current directors. The directors – the same as a trustee at other charities – sit on the charity board and help to make decisions on a wide range of things, ensuring that they are able to run a modern, safe and successful charity. Meetings include everything from finances of the charity to making sure they operate safely. Most importantly the board, with support from the Chief Executive, sets the direction of travel for the charity and how they will grow strategically.
Modern Electric Tramways wish to strengthen the board by not only appointing additional Directors but also finding some from other backgrounds and with different skill sets. This will help them become both a better business and a better charity.
Details of exactly what they are looking for and the commitment involved, as well as how to apply are available on their website at https://www.tram.co.uk/news/view/modern-electric-tramways-charity-board-opportunity
Original comment has now been removed.
And why shouldn’t they try to attract a wider spectrum of skills and backgrounds? Organisations like these cannot survive by pandering to the enthusiast only. They desperately need to attract visitors from a broad family base if they are to survive. Good luck to Modern Electric Tramways in their efforts to widen the scope of their visitor appeal.
As you have removed my original comment, I feel you may have misunderstood what I was suggesting. Let me try again. When quotas of ANY sort are brought into the equation, you then by the very nature of doing this begin to limit, to the point of exclusion, the people who have a very genuine interest in what you are aiming to do. At this moment in time whether you are a Martian or Brit. Male, female or absolutely anything or anyone else, if you have an interest in the subject ( in this case Tramways) you are going to attract the one’s with that interest. When you go outside this area then you begin to bring politics into play! Hopefully this explains my original comment, and this will be published.
I don’t think there’s any suggestion that they are setting quotas for the new directors/trustees. They are just asking for applicants from non-traditional areas to increase the ideas which they may have. There will be some people who have knowledge and experience of visitor attractions or the educational side of things for example who may not usually think of applying for such a role as they would be put off by what is traditionally thought of as the make-up of heritage railway/tramway charities. Surely there can be nothing wrong with trying to get some fresh ideas into organisations?
Lewis Bruce was senior motorman of the London United Tramways at the beginning. Here is a picture of him standing on the front platform with the mayor of Kingston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_United_Tramways#/media/File:First_Tram_on_Kingston_Bridge.jpg
Even back then there were ‘diverse’ ethnicities working on the tramways.