Roker Miniature Railway chairman hopes model day will attract new volunteers to secure Sunderland attraction's future

Operated by the City of Sunderland Model Engineering Society, generations of children have enjoyed train rides around Roker Park since 1946.

However last year (2022), after consecutive annual losses of £4,000, the financial future of the railway was in serious jeopardy until an article in the Echo highlighted the society's plight and led to donations from across the city, including from Sunderland Rotary Club.

There has also been a significant increase in people making donations to ride the trains.

However, with the majority of the club’s volunteers now over 70, equally important to secure the railway’s future is younger men and women to both drive the trains and maintain the track and engines.

To raise the club’s profile and attract new volunteers, the Model Engineering Society held a model display day which included miniature trains, warships, steam lorries, quarter size Land Rover, tractors and fire engines.

There was even a replica 17th Century warship, one tenth of the size of the original, donated by Friends of Roker Park.

Peter, 75, said: “The Echo article gave us a real boost and we are now financially secure. Donations and footfall are both up.

“I think people realised this is a resource generations of their families have enjoyed and they didn’t want to lose it.

“However, equally as important for our future are new people. We are all of a certain age and aren’t going to be around forever and we need new blood.

“As well as having fun, the model day was all about raising the profile of the club and society. Hopefully it will have captured the imagination of some younger people who think I would like to get involved with this.”

The models were part of the members’ own personal collections and hundreds of people got the chance to see and handle them as well as enjoying rides on the railway’s five trains.

Peter said: “It’s the best display of models I have seen in my 20 years in the society and we even had to create an additional over-spill section.

“It was a great day enjoyed by both children and adults alike.”

Anyone who is interested in volunteering should contact Peter at [email protected] or via the society’s Facebook page.