| Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by grahame at 13:59, 2nd October 2024 |      |
Do you use the buses or trains in or from Melksham? Do you hope to do so in the future?
The Melksham Transport User Group is looking forward - a rebirth - and encourages you to come along to the Melksham Campus at either 14:30 (half past two) or 18:30 (half past six) on Friday, 25th October 2024
Background
Over the years, the group and its predecessors have seen Melksham's train service rise from zero - a closed station - through a handful of commuter trains to a service running every two hours, and with the station extended to take the (necessary) longer trains too. Some of our bus services have been reduced or lost, but others such as the evening buses to Bath were saved even through Covid, and there have been major recent improvements in the services especially on Sundays. But with a change in Government, and an acknowledged need to update how and perhaps who runs our public transport, we are now in a time of both great opportunity but also great risk.
Invite
Please come along on 25th October to EITHER session (both if you are keen). Public transport is an all day everyday thing and the day is set up to enable both those groups who don't like to be out after dark, AND those who at work during the day.
What might the group do?
What should the future be for a Melksham Transport User Group?
- Interaction with service specifiers and providers to help improve provision
- Information provision to help people sort out journeys and opportunities
- Marketing help to encourage public transport use
- Newsletter
- Campaigning for best future provision and co-ordinating / partnering to do so
- Co-ordinating with neighbouring groups as transport is FROM and TO other places
- Volunteers to help with making the station and bus stops more informative and friendly
- Transport "club", perhaps at the former station cafe, to welcome all comers
- Organised / lead outings
- Station Friends group
The "old crew" has performed some pretty spectacular miracles, but we're now largely retired or passed and we need a new generation to pass on the baton - whether you're just coming along to get a current timetable, or whether you're looking to join us as a member, or whether you would like to be part of that new generation.
Contact and more background
Further background - my blog - detailed article. and earlier discussions in the forum
Any questions or to express an early interest, please contact myself (Graham Ellis) - I will be delighted to fill you in further - 07974 925928 or graham @ sn12.net work best if you are not a member of this forum
| Re: Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by infoman at 18:31, 2nd October 2024 | |
Just a big thank you for arranging two meetings and in my opinion the timings are perfect
| Re: Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by grahame at 12:14, 15th October 2024 | |
Follow up article and invite at https://grahamellis.uk/blog1363.html
Please come along at 14:30 or 18:30 (or both!) on Friday 25th October to the Melksham Campus for our relaunch of the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG), and/or at 17:00 on the same afternoon to the KGV Park to unveil a "Happy to Chat" memorial bench to Peter and Margaret Blackburn.
Some background. If you have ANY interest in ...
* Buses * Trains * Cycling * Walking
* This year * Next Year * Next 10 years
* Helping * Meeting People and chatting
* Keeping Fit * Environmental Good
* Commuting * Personal Business
* Getting out and about * Trips out
* Buses on your street * Buses and trains to and from our town
* How to find out about travel * How to find places to go
* How to find the best routes and fares
... then come along a week on Friday. It will costs you nothing but your time.
Public Transport provides a vital travel element in Melksham for many of us, and over the years the Melksham Railway Development Group (MRDG) - which has morphed into the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG) - has had some notable achievements. Most of the changes have been informed by community input, and many of the current service users have learned via publicity circulated by the group.
[continues]
Some background. If you have ANY interest in ...
* Buses * Trains * Cycling * Walking
* This year * Next Year * Next 10 years
* Helping * Meeting People and chatting
* Keeping Fit * Environmental Good
* Commuting * Personal Business
* Getting out and about * Trips out
* Buses on your street * Buses and trains to and from our town
* How to find out about travel * How to find places to go
* How to find the best routes and fares
... then come along a week on Friday. It will costs you nothing but your time.
Public Transport provides a vital travel element in Melksham for many of us, and over the years the Melksham Railway Development Group (MRDG) - which has morphed into the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG) - has had some notable achievements. Most of the changes have been informed by community input, and many of the current service users have learned via publicity circulated by the group.
[continues]
Full document as a .pdf at https://www.mtug.org.uk/lib/mtug_relaunch.pdf
Event also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/426757930452183
| Re: Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by grahame at 09:08, 23rd October 2024 | |
| Re: Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by grahame at 05:23, 25th October 2024 | |
Parked thread - to project this afternoon:
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/mtug25.pdf
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/constbrtief.pdf
| Re: Melksham Transport Group - rebirth, 25th October 2024, 14:30 and 18:30 Posted by grahame at 09:04, 28th October 2024 | |
For circulation to everyone who attended / offered support.
Thank you for coming along on Friday (that was 25th October) to the Melksham Transport User Group restart meetings. `I am including copies to those who sent their apologies but expressed an interest too - we are all busy people and a random date was bound to be inconvenient to some.
Over the three sessions, several dozen people came along. There was serious discussion about the future of the group, whether we need one at all these days, and how we might go about organising it practically.
Headlines ...
* Melksham Railway Development Group has achieved so much over the years that it has to some extent worked itself out of a role, and the old hands are largely no longer with us or active after several decades of largely successful voluntary work.
* YES, there is a need for a community group to support and promote public transport in the Melksham Area and there is no other existing group that is doing it.
* We have the encouragement of partners such as the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, Melksham Without Parish Council, Melksham Town Council, and the Melksham Environment Group in going forward. And the approach is that we partner with all of those and with so many other parties involved.
* It's emphasised that we are a TRANSPORT group and not limited to any single mode.
* We meet again at 18:30 on 28th November (a month from today and a Thursday) to look at appointing officer roles and structure. Please tell others about it - we need a big, strong team of support everywhere from activists to "armchair" supporters.
* Melksham Environment Group meets this Wednesday. At least four committee members from there were at the various sessions on Friday, during which the thought of association to combine admin and work on mutual aims were discussed. MEG (for example) included the rail timetable on their summer lesflet.
In one of the sessions, the question was asked about GDPR and the interest being collected. The information you gave me is purely for use in the interim setup and restart / reform of the group and correspondence using it will be done via "bcc" - i.e. blind copies that do not reveal who's there. I will add an update at https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/ (a copy of this) that anyone can comment on and also onto the web site at https://www.mtug.org.uk and my personal details are at the base of this email and shareable. This is purely a setup while we work out how we're moving forward.
To note ...
https://www.mtug.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/mtug25.pdf - slides projected on Friday
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/constbrtief.pdf - constituency brief to Brian Mathew
Graham
Over the three sessions, several dozen people came along. There was serious discussion about the future of the group, whether we need one at all these days, and how we might go about organising it practically.
Headlines ...
* Melksham Railway Development Group has achieved so much over the years that it has to some extent worked itself out of a role, and the old hands are largely no longer with us or active after several decades of largely successful voluntary work.
* YES, there is a need for a community group to support and promote public transport in the Melksham Area and there is no other existing group that is doing it.
* We have the encouragement of partners such as the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, Melksham Without Parish Council, Melksham Town Council, and the Melksham Environment Group in going forward. And the approach is that we partner with all of those and with so many other parties involved.
* It's emphasised that we are a TRANSPORT group and not limited to any single mode.
* We meet again at 18:30 on 28th November (a month from today and a Thursday) to look at appointing officer roles and structure. Please tell others about it - we need a big, strong team of support everywhere from activists to "armchair" supporters.
* Melksham Environment Group meets this Wednesday. At least four committee members from there were at the various sessions on Friday, during which the thought of association to combine admin and work on mutual aims were discussed. MEG (for example) included the rail timetable on their summer lesflet.
In one of the sessions, the question was asked about GDPR and the interest being collected. The information you gave me is purely for use in the interim setup and restart / reform of the group and correspondence using it will be done via "bcc" - i.e. blind copies that do not reveal who's there. I will add an update at https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/ (a copy of this) that anyone can comment on and also onto the web site at https://www.mtug.org.uk and my personal details are at the base of this email and shareable. This is purely a setup while we work out how we're moving forward.
To note ...
https://www.mtug.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/mtug25.pdf - slides projected on Friday
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/constbrtief.pdf - constituency brief to Brian Mathew
Graham
