Changes

In summer 1968 the opportunity arose to acquire seven redundant coaches from Didcot, including two GWR Hawksworth Full Thirds and five LMS coaches. The Association began [[Severn Valley Railway Society]] was still in the process of raising the money to acquire the line itself, so funds to acquire rolling stock needed to come from individuals and groups. Members of the C&W Department, which had just been established in the newly leased [[Bewdley Goods Shed]], hastily formed the '''Hawksworth Coach Fund''' and succeeded in 1968 as acquiring [[GWR 829 Full Third]], with the other Hawksworth, [[GWR 2119 Full Third]], being acquired by an individual member.<ref name=SVR157>SVR News 157</ref> Although this first purchase was successful, it was clear that pre-nationalisation stock was being withdrawn at an 'alarming rate' and that fundraising at short notice was not easy. The Hawksworth Coach Fund members therefore decided to form a more permanent fund, adopting the new name of '''Great Western Rolling Stock Fund''' (also referred to as the 'GWR Coach Fund'), . At that time there were fewer than ten members and quickly began only a very informal structure with no officers or meeting minutes. The Fund continued to accumulate pre-nationalisation carriages which were being withdrawn from service by BR at , including part of the Swindon test train in 1969, the timelast opportunity to acquire complete GWR passenger coaches in good condition.<ref name=GWSVRA>[http://www.gw-svr-a.org.ukSVR157/background.html GW(SVR)A website ‘Background’] (retrieved 8 February 2019)</ref>  In 1972 a separate group, the ‘Great '''Great Western Locomotive and Carriage Society’Society''', was formed with the intention of saving a locomotive, [[GWR Mogul 7325 | Collett Mogul 9303/7325]], from [[Barry Scrapyard]].<ref>SVR News 25</ref> The two groups shared common aims and members, and in 1973 merged to form the '''Great Western (SVR) Association''',<ref name=SVR128>SVR News 128, “The "The Great Western (SVR) Association celebrates 25 years”years"</ref> the somewhat convoluted title being chosen to avoid any confusion with the Didcot-based Great Western Society.<ref>SVR News 157<name=SVR157/ref> The first Annual General Meeting of the new Association was held on 18 May 1974.<ref>SVR News 34</ref>

The Association’s Association's 25th Anniversary was noted in SVR News in 1998.<ref name=SVR128/> The Constitution which governs the Association’s status as a registered charity was adopted on 24 October 1998.<ref>Charities Commission website</ref>