Strategic Vision

1. VISION 

To excel in our heritage railway conservation – for preservation, posterity and society and by doing so, to be the first choice provider of high quality customer experiences for children, young people and adults in the locality and wider reaches – relating to the heritage railway.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & AIMS

This document confirms the basis on which Tanfield Railway will develop towards its 300th year celebrations in 2025.   

Our ambitious targets to reach in 2025 are:

• 300,000 Visitors to Our Website in 2025 – including a virtual museum of artefacts and storytelling to preserve our historic legacy

• 30,000 Visitors to Our Site in 2025 – including the opening of Marley Hill Engine Shed and new Tanfield Waggonway.   

• 300 Trained Volunteers On Site by 2025 – including storytelling guides in traditional dress to engage with our customers.  Building heritage and customer facing skills.

• 300 Online and Face-to-Face Education Programmes by 2025 – to raise awareness and protect the legacy of our heritage 

• 300 Friends of Tanfield Railway – contributing through support and legacies the future of the railway

• 30 Conservation Projects by 2025 – including digitised library of artefacts, digitised virtual museum tour, improvements to site including Marley Hill Engine Shed, new  Waggonway, updated Coal Waggons

3. FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESS

Tanfield Railway is the brand that encompasses three entities:

• Tanfield Railway Trust (Charity) – site, land and buildings, some artefacts

• Tanfield Railway Company Ltd – private limited company for commercial activity

• Tanfield Railway Friends – unincorporated entity 

The “Trust” will uphold the highest standards of governance to meet its guiding principles and the standards laid down by the Charities Commission.  It will oversee and hold to account the activities of the “Company” and “Friends”.   The objectives of the Trust are: “…the advancement of education by acquiring housing and exhibiting and conserving restoring and repairing objects and collections of an educational nature and by establishing acquiring managing and maintaining museums galleries libraries and other places where such purposes may be achieved…”. It follows that the Trust’s works and activities must be led by these objectives and must fall within them.

The “Company” will carry out its operations in a commercially viable and yet sensitive manner – held accountable to the “Trust”. 

The “Friends” will support the operation of the Trust to build support and legacies for the future sustainability of the railway heritage.  It will be held accountable to the “Trust”.

The joint vision of the entities is:

“To excel in our heritage railway conservation – for preservation, posterity and society and by doing so, to be the first choice provider of high quality customer experiences for children, young people and adults in the locality and wider reaches – relating to the heritage railway”.

In achieving our vision, we will 

• Excel in our conservation of our heritage 

• Continue to achieve and innovate high quality customer experiences

• Offer innovative, cost effective solutions to maintain financial sustainability

• Meet the legal and compliance requirements of the bodies that fund and oversee “Tanfield Railway”.

The guiding principles of Tanfield Railway were agreed in 2010 by the Trust and the Company as follows:

1. Demonstrate the period 1920-1950 (this would be predominantly steam)

2. Focus on industrial and minor railways

3. A North East of England focus with items used or built in the North East

These are the foundations on which the improvement and operation of the railway, with its museum and other property or material, will be carried out.

4. 1.  PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Core Product & Services

• Train Ride

• Industrial Railway Experience – Sights and Sounds of Engine Sheds

• Specialist Heritage Conservation

Ancillary Products & Services

• Refreshments, Food, Drink

• Retail Goods

• Volunteer Programmes

• Educational Programmes

• Events – Music, Historic, Railway Enthusiasts

• Woodland Walks

• Legacy – wills

• Business Sponsorships

• Friends – donations

5. OUR STRATEGIC AIMS AND HOW WE WILL REACH THEM

These ambitious targets will be the subject of a Business Improvement Plan with detailed actions that will be monitored monthly by the Trust to ensure our ambitions are realised:

300,000 Visitors to Our Website in 2025

• Digitisation Project – digital volunteer group, upgraded website, virtual museum of artefacts, storytelling online, digital learning, digital marketing strategy

30,000 Visitors to Our Site in 2025 

• Customer Journey Project – profile of visitors, their journey on site, signposting, guided walks, talking guides, events, satisfaction levels 

300 Trained Volunteers On Site by 2025 

• Volunteer Project – segmentation of volunteers into fundraising, guides, teaching, heritage engineering skills, customer facing skills, thorough induction, job descriptions, appraisal, training and development.

300 Online and Face-to-Face Education Programmes by 2025 

• Education Project -  to raise awareness and protect the legacy of our heritage.  This links to the Volunteer and Digitisation Projects.

300 Friends of Tanfield Railway 

• Tanfield Railway Friends Project – reconfiguration and energetic contributing through support and legacies the future of the railway

30 Conservation Projects by 2025

• These to be defined but include Digitisation, Customer Journey, Volunteer, Education as well as Marley Hill Engine Shed, Coal Waggons, New Waggonway, Marley Hill Crossing.