UK award for retired accountant helping to keep the ‘wheels turning’ at Whitehead museum

John White was highly commended in the UK-wide Volunteers for Museum Learning awards. The Dunmurry resident was named as runner-up in the Northern Ireland section of the initiative, run jointly by the British Museum and the Marsh Charitable Trust.

The nomination referenced John’s painstaking work in the ongoing restoration of steam engine No. 184 and highlighted his willingness to engage with passing visitors and outline the background of the project.

It also noted that John, a founder member of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI), was a regular volunteer museum guide, showing visitors around Whitehead Railway Museum.

The judges said: “We were particularly impressed by John White’s contribution to Whitehead Railway Museum and wish to recognise this by awarding him with a highly commended certificate.”

The winners were announced at a ceremony held at the British Museum in London.

John said: “I’m honoured to have been highly commended but I am only one of a number of dedicated volunteers north and south who keep the wheels turning for the Society and the Museum.

“I get a great kick out of the camaraderie at Whitehead and out of seeing the various restoration projects developing. For me that is reward enough but I am delighted that thanks to this nationwide scheme, Whitehead Railway Museum has been in the limelight once again.

“We look forward to welcoming more visitors over the winter months and hopefully they will catch some of the enthusiasm which our volunteers bring to their various roles.”

“He has used his professional skills to update the Society’s accounting systems and has set up a new system which provides information on a timely basis for the RPSI board and finance committee. This has been a major saving to the Society.”

The Northern Ireland section was won by Mervyn Hall from the Inniskillings Museum in Enniskillen.