A public petition to Bluebell Railway Preservation Society trustees and Bluebell Railway leadership.

 

Dear fellow members, volunteers, shareholders and supporters,

 

This petition is being launched because many of us are deeply concerned by the direction of travel at Bluebell Railway.

 

Taken together, the proposed EGM changes, the recent volunteer handbook changes, and the wider governance and financial picture raise serious questions about who controls the future of the Railway, how volunteers are treated, how life members are regarded, and whether members are being asked to give away constitutional leverage at precisely the wrong moment.

 

This is not a petition against reform. It is a petition for proper scrutiny before power is transferred, rights are weakened, and long-standing protections are diluted.

 

The Bluebell Railway deserves modernisation where needed. But it also deserves accountability, fairness, financial discipline, and respect for the people who built it, funded it, volunteer on it, and continue to sustain it.

The present BRPS constitutional structure appears to give members meaningful reserve power, including the ability to direct trustees by Special Resolution and the duty on trustees to monitor Plc governance and use the Society’s shareholding to influence who remains in office and who should depart. The March 2026 volunteer handbook also plainly states that on-site volunteers are “classified as a Volunteer to the Bluebell Railway PLC only” and that “All volunteers when on site report to the Bluebell Railway PLC only,” while removing the volunteer appeal route that appeared in the earlier draft.

 

Initial Summary

This does not look like tidy constitutional housekeeping.

It looks like a major structural shift, one that risks moving the Railway away from a membership-led model with meaningful constitutional checks and toward a more centralised structure in which members have less practical grip, volunteers have weaker procedural protection, and life members are increasingly treated as a structural difficulty rather than as a loyal constituency to be respected.

 

At the same time, the financial picture is plainly VERY serious. On the figures relied upon in the briefing behind this petition, Plc losses were about £389,850 in 2022, £315,395 in 2023, and £618,494 in 2024. Year-end cash reportedly fell from about £700,055 in 2022 to £499,066 in 2023 and then to about £165,467 in 2024. The 2024 position is also said to show net current liabilities of about £416,672, with management discussing asset sales to generate cash and support continued operations. This is deeply troubleing as the whole point of our railway is to preserve heritage assets!

 

Members are therefore entitled to ask a simple question:

Why should member control be weakened at exactly the point when stronger oversight appears most necessary?

 

Headline Findings at a Glance

 

 

 

Why Members Should Be Concerned

 

1. The present BRPS structure appears to give members real power

 

The BRPS has not historically been just a supporters’ club. It has been the controlling membership body. The present arrangements appear to provide a chain of accountability from members, to trustees, to the Plc.

That matters enormously.

If members currently retain meaningful constitutional influence, then any proposal that changes that balance should be treated with extreme care. Members should not be asked to approve a broad direction first and only examine the real consequences later.

 

2. The volunteer handbook points in a harder Plc-only direction

 

The March 2026 handbook does not merely tidy wording. It appears to harden the Plc’s claim to sole authority over on-site volunteers and removes the volunteer appeal route that had appeared in the earlier draft. That is a significant shift in governance and culture, not a minor procedural edit.

In a volunteer-heavy, safety-critical organisation, procedural fairness is not a luxury. It is part of retention, confidence, and good governance. A culture in which volunteers can be excluded without the protections previously described is likely to reduce confidence, not rebuild it.

 

3. Life members deserve respect, not quiet marginalisation

 

Life members are not an inconvenience. They are among the Railway’s most committed supporters.

Many paid more up front, often years ago, precisely because they believed in the Railway’s long-term future. Any change that effectively pushes life membership toward the margins, closes it off for the future, or treats it mainly as a structural liability sends a poor message indeed.

At a moment when loyalty should be valued, it should not be diluted.

 

4. “Not for profit” is not an answer to poor governance or financial weakness

 

One argument often raised is that Bluebell Railway Plc is a not-for-profit company.

That misses the point entirely.

“Not for profit” does not mean exempt from scrutiny, free from the need for competent management, free from the need for proper financial control, or free from the need for accountability to those who sustain it.

 

A not-for-profit body can still be badly run. It can still make repeated losses. It can still suffer from weak oversight, poor budgeting, delayed corrective action, over-centralised authority, or flawed governance.

If the figures relied on in this petition are correct, the issue is not whether profits are distributed to shareholders. The issue is whether the business is being run with proper discipline, sufficient oversight, and a credible long-term plan.

 

That is the real question.

And where repeated losses, falling cash, reliance on support, and possible asset sales are all appearing at once, members are entitled to say that “not for profit” is no defence at all.

 

5. The financial position makes stronger oversight more necessary, not less

 

On the figures relied on in the briefing supporting this petition, the picture is serious:

 

6. Volunteer confidence is a strategic issue, not an afterthought

 

A heritage railway depends on skill, trust, continuity, and belonging.

People do not give years of service simply to be treated as disposable labour under an increasingly centralised command structure. Volunteers stay when they feel respected, heard, treated fairly, and part of something they help to own.

 

Any structure or handbook change that weakens that sense of belonging will make recruitment and retention harder.

 

• Plc losses of about £389,850 in 2022

• Plc losses of about £315,395 in 2023

• Plc losses of about £618,494 in 2024

• Year-end cash falling from about £700,055 to £499,066 and then to about £165,467

• A 2024 net current position said to be around £416,672 negative

• A reported expectation that asset sales would be needed to support continued trading

 

Whatever view one takes of the precise legal or accounting position, that is not a picture of comfort.

 

Members do not need to prove unlawful conduct before asking the obvious constitutional question:

 

If the operating company depends on support from the wider Railway family, why should the membership body now surrender leverage rather than strengthen it?

 

What This Petition Calls For

 

• A full side-by-side explanation of current member powers, class rights and protections, compared with the proposed future position.

• A clear statement of which existing rights will survive, which will change, and which will disappear.

• A formal statement on volunteer governance, including whether a fair appeal route will be restored.

• A detailed financial recovery plan covering assumptions, cash pressures, support requirements, staffing assumptions, asset sale assumptions, and trigger points for corrective action.

• A clear governance statement showing who currently holds key decision-making authority and how accountability is exercised.

• Explicit protection for life members and associated rights, set out clearly and not buried in general assurances.

• A genuinely free confirmatory vote on the final package, once full rules and consequences are known.

• A clear commitment that no structural change will be pushed through on the basis of incomplete disclosure.

 

What We Believe

We believe the right answer to financial pressure and organisational strain is not less scrutiny.

 

• It is better scrutiny.
• It is not less member control.
• It is stronger member control.
• It is not weaker volunteer protection.
• It is fairer volunteer protection.
• It is not marginalising those who backed the Railway most deeply.
• It is respecting them properly.

 

Conclusion

 

Bluebell Railway is too important, too historic, and too dependent on the loyalty of its members and volunteers for constitutional change to be waved through on trust alone.

 

If these proposals are sound, they should survive full public scrutiny.

 

If they weaken rights, reduce accountability, and centralise power without proper safeguards, members are right to say so now, before it is too late.

 

This petition therefore asks members and supporters to stand together and make one simple point:

No weakening of member control, no erosion of volunteer fairness, and no sidelining of life members without full transparency, proper safeguards, and an informed vote.

 

Please Sign

 

If you believe:

 

• members deserve proper answers before any major structural change

• volunteers deserve fairness and due process

• life members deserve respect

• and Bluebell Railway needs stronger accountability rather than weaker oversight

 

Please sign this petition and share it widely.

 

Share it with fellow members. Share it with volunteers. Share it with shareholders. Share it with those who care about the future of the Railway.

 

Every signature strengthens the message that the future of Bluebell Railway must not be decided by drift, incomplete disclosure, or managerial convenience.

 

It must be decided openly, properly, and with the informed consent of those who have sustained the Railway for generations.

 

Please sign. Please share. Please help ensure these questions are answered before any rights are given away and to make sure that we all have complete clarity!

 

PLEASE BE ASSURED YOUR DETAILS WILL REMIAN PRIVATE!