“Journey makers” volunteer scheme

[island]

Today I was sent a Facebook advert by a page called “Volunteering matters”. They want people to volunteer for free for six weeks to “offer their time and energy”, as well as “help the public adjust to travelling” and “feel safe and confident”.

There is no indication whether the initiative is at the instigation of government, the TOCs, or others. I will however be feeding back that the only thing that will help me feel safe and confident whilst travelling will be the immediate and permanent revocation of the mask rule.

I am not sure whether the link will work generally, but here it is.

Volunteering Matters

Do you have what it takes to help the public adjust to travelling? Following months of lockdown, September marks a significant time as students return to school and employees return to work. We need...

www.facebook.com

 

[DB]

Think this was talked about a few months ago, wasn't it? Presumably they didn't get much response at the time.

It does seem fairly pointless...

 

[MrTurbostar170]

Just sounds like you're signing up to be verbally abused by those who don't want to wear masks.

 

[bramling]

Today I was sent a Facebook advert by a page called “Volunteering matters”. They want people to volunteer for free for six weeks to “offer their time and energy”, as well as “help the public adjust to travelling” and “feel safe and confident”.

There is no indication whether the initiative is at the instigation of government, the TOCs, or others. I will however be feeding back that the only thing that will help me feel safe and confident whilst travelling will be the immediate and permanent revocation of the mask rule.

I am not sure whether the link will work generally, but here it is.

Volunteering Matters

Do you have what it takes to help the public adjust to travelling? Following months of lockdown, September marks a significant time as students return to school and employees return to work. We need...

www.facebook.com

I despair.

We already have the lilac brigade at places like Euston, who serve zero practical purpose apart from standing around eyeballing people entering the station.

Another pointless and unhelpful idea.

 

[island]

Ah yes, those. Six of them stood around Cannon Street all day yesterday whilst ten-coach 376s and eight-coach 465s deposited and took on fresh air on the platforms.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'm half tempted to apply. Then when other wanna-be Covid-Police start kicking off about people not wearing masks, I'll point out to them that there are exceptions and that people don't need to justify them to the authorities, let alone them. Could be fun!

 

[STINT47]

If you volunteer for this do you get given a jacket with please abuse me written on the back?

I have an exemption and don't wear a face mask. Whilst I would be polite n explaining this I can imagine others may not be.

 

[bramling]

If you volunteer for this do you get given a jacket with please abuse me written on the back?

I have an exemption and don't wear a face mask. Whilst I would be polite n explaining this I can imagine others may not be.

I’d have thought “I’m here as a total waste of space” would be more appropriate.

What are these people going to actually do apart from standing around? That’s literally all the lilacs do.

Are we going to have a “journey maker” at Sugar Loaf and Teesside Airport?

 

[adc82140]

I thought the idea of social distancing was to have fewer people standing around, not more.

 

[2L70]

If you like to spy on people in your spare time, go for it. Could put it on your CV, might get you an office job in Manchester.

 

[yorkie]

Just sounds like you're signing up to be verbally abused by those who don't want to wear masks.

That's odd; the only verbal abuse I've witnessed is by pro-mask people demanding those who are exempt from wearing masks aren't wearing a mask.

However if the requirement is to ask people to wear a mask, and the wrong person applied, and asked in a manner that wasn't appropriate, I imagine they would get abuse on some occasions (not that I am condoning it; far from it, but it would be predictable)




Here is the link to the form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/Resp...vejr8khHsmpY09U_8Lwc1OcrUDj_lomXS7BLXzX7ucjyY

There are few questions and they are all on one page:

Name
Surname
Email address
Mobile number
Which transport hub (from a limited range, below):

Aylesbury​

Banbury​

Barking​

Barnsley Interchange​

Basingstoke​

Bath​

Benfleet​

Birmingham​

Brighton​

Broxbourne​

Bury St Edmunds​

Cambridge​

Cheshunt​

Chichester​

Conventry​

Derby​

Diss​

Dudley​

Eastbourne​

Ely​

Exeter​

Faversham​

Fenchurch​

Finsbury Park​

Halesowen​

Herne Hill​

High Wycombe​

Huddersfield​

Hull​

Ipswich​

Leamington Spa​

Manningtree​

Marks Tey​

Meadowhall​

Middlesbrough​

Newbury​

Newton Abbot​

Norwich​

Nottingham​

Putney​

Reading​

Richmond​

Rotherham​

Salisbury​

Scarborough​

Sheffield​

Slough​

Snow Hill​

Southampton​

Southend Central​

St Albans City​

Stourbridge​

Stowmarket​

Stratford​

Surbiton​

Swindon​

Tonbridge​

Vauxhall​

Walsall​

Watford​

West Bromwich​

Wimbleton​

Woking​

Wolverhampton​

I did not find a railway station near me​

​

 

[richw]

That's odd; the only verbal abuse I've witnessed is by pro-mask people demanding those who are exempt from wearing masks aren't wearing a mask.

This is exactly the same as my observations.

 

[43066]

I despair.

We already have the lilac brigade at places like Euston, who serve zero practical purpose apart from standing around eyeballing people entering the station.

Another pointless and unhelpful idea.

Completely agree. I thought the “journey maker” nonsense had been kiboshed weeks ago. It is a terrible, terrible idea.

You can just imagine the kind of power crazed busybody who would rush to sign up for this, and then act in a way that deters even more people from travelling on the railway, at a time when we need to be doing the exact opposite.

 

[bramling]

Completely agree. I thought the “journey maker” nonsense had been kiboshed weeks ago. It is a terrible, terrible idea.

You can just imagine the kind of power crazed busybody who would rush to sign up for this, and then act in a way that deters even more people from travelling on the railway, at a time when we need to be doing the exact opposite.

I suppose it’s a way for some people to play trains!

 

[greyman42]

You can just imagine the kind of power crazed busybody who would rush to sign up for this, and then act in a way that deters even more people from travelling on the railway, at a time when we need to be doing the exact opposite.

Don't these people have jobs to do. How do they find the spare time to volunteer for these roles?

 

[SuspectUsual]

I’ve come to the conclusion that this only saw the light of day because someone in government was on Facebook and the memories feature dredged up a post from the 2012 Olympics and the “games makers” (who were I think quite useful).

 

[Pete_uk]

Well if it makes people fell better...