Changes

The late John Leach was for many years the SVR’s [[Marketing Department|Marketing Manager]]. Two examples of his maxim that ‘children and animals make a good story’. In 1995 the SVR membership hit 16,000, including a Dalmatian dog which had been enrolled by his owner. When contacted, the owner agreed that this would make a good local news item. The story escalated, eventually reaching several of the national tabloids (the Daily Star in typical fashion referring to the Dalmatian as ‘A new breed of train-spotter’). The same year a 10 year old girl sent a donation of £20.63 to the Railway which she had saved over the previous 6 months. The Bewdley office staff rounded this up to £25 which bought her a £25 share in the Railway. A ‘news photocall’ of the presentation was organised, which BBC ‘Midlands Today’ attended, and later broadcast a 4 minute news item on prime-time evening television. As John Leach pointed out, a 4 minute advertisement on Central TV would have cost the Railway around £215,000. Such is the value of a good story.