Severn Valley Venturer
Volunteer Information

Who we are:

A group of volunteer who run the Venturer lunch service on the Severn Valley Railway.
We come from widely different backgrounds and locations. Hardly any of us had previous catering experience. Our common aim is to run a successful, friendly service to attract customers and so generate funds for the Railway.

What we do:

Cook and serve a four course lunch each Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday during the main running season (March to October). This is served on the return journey between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth departing at 12:45 or 13:05 depending on the timetable. We serve up to 42 diners.

We also provide extra services such as:-

Saturday evening meals on Gala week-ends.

Occasional 'Specials' (normally Saturdays) booked by private parties.

Our famous 'Haggis Special' each New Years Day.

Volunteer jobs on the Venturer:

Stewards, who lay up the tables, serve the food by silver service, clear the tables and generally look after the diners.

Chief Stewards, who do the same as the Stewards but also supervise the running of the operation, prepare the bills and collect and account for the takings.

Wine Waiters who serve the diners with wine and other beverages during the meal. They also supply the Chief Steward with details of sales to be put on the customers' bills. The Wine Waiter will usually double-up as a Steward during the later stages of the meal.

Pantry Staff, who provide a valuable back-up service by preparing some of the dishes for serving, washing-up and putting away the crockery etc. (quite a lot gets generated by 42 diners!).

Cooks and Assistant Cooks, who prepare the soup, meat, vegetables and sweets and supply them to the Stewards for serving. The kitchen is staffed by a cook and an assistant cook.

You will be welcome to try as many or as few of these jobs as you like.

General Information:

All of this sounds like hard work, and it is. But the volunteers enjoy themselves because of the comradeship and sense of fun that exists on the Venturer. There is also a great sense of achievement in arriving back at Bridgnorth with 42 well-fed, happy smiling diners.

It is rare for a volunteer to join us and not wish to come back. Training will be given, but you will learn mainly by doing the job as the rest of us did.

How often you can attend is up to you; the roster clerk will ask for your availability on a three-monthly basis. The ability to be able to attend at short notice would be appreciated but is not essential. We do ask that you turn-up when you agree to, and give the roster clerk as much notice as possible if this is impossible.

The day starts at Bridgnorth at about 10:00. Staff usually work the two round trips, finishing at about 18:00. However it is possible for some to finish when the tables have been cleared after the first trip.

As our work keeps us busy throughout the lunchtime, a staff meal is supplied on the train later in the afternoon for a small charge.

| To Dave's Home Page | To Dave's Railway Page | Dave's SVR Home Page | Venturer Home Page |
| SVR "Official" Home Page | SVR-Net |

---

Created on by: Dave Rowley, September 28th 1998
Last modified by Dave Rowley on March 19^th 2005