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King Charles III invited millions of Britons to support causes in the Big Help Out as part of the official programme of events

Taking part was Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway who invited members of the public to see what volunteering is all about.

Chairman of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway Historic Vehicles Trust, Richard Shepherd, said: “We’re delighted to welcome people who want to volunteer on the LCLR

All aboard - volunteer Chris Bates of the Lincolnshire Light Railway.

“The Royal Volunteer Service included us in their Big Help Out app, so anyone looking to be a volunteer in Lincolnshire could see what we’re doing and be encouraged to come along, to see how we operate and, we hope, to be inspired to join us.

“You don’t have to be a railway enthusiast (many of our volunteers say they are not) – the satisfaction is being part of a good-natured group conserving and operating for the pleasure of our visitors, a significant part of our heritage, which would otherwise have vanished – and putting a smile on our passengers’ faces.

"It is sociable, physically and mentally healthy good exercise and as we all know, there is no shortage around Skegness of fresh bracing

air in which to work”.

Potential volunteer Dave Barnard from Gainsborough on the footplate of the heritage "Simplex" diesel "Wilton" with driver Andy Stevens.

The Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway was the very first heritage line in the whole world to be built by enthusiasts on a greenfield site (as distinct from reopening an existing line). Its first trains linked a local bus terminus with the nearby beach and holiday camp at Humberston, near Cleethorpes in 1960 and after closure in 1985, moved to the Skegness Water Leisure Park in Walls Lane, Ingoldmells, in 1992.

After years of restoration by the volunteers, the line reopened in 2009. The railway is owned by a private limited company, but all the operations, maintenance and restorations are carried out by volunteers

There have been several awards for the LCLR’s volunteers’ achievements, most recently the Morgan Award for Rolling Stock Restoration for the renovation of the unique “Queen Mary” carriage in the Heritage Railway Association’s “Railway Oscars” 2023.

HRH The Princess Royal visited the railway in 2017.

For more on the railway, visit the website at www.lclr.co.uk.

Big Help Out: Volunteers host event for coronation at Lincolnshire Light Railway in Skegness