virginhst539

@Dungrange Thanks, that's useful. It sounds interesting. I will try to get along at some point to say hello. Would my 11 year old be welcome, or is he too young? He is interested but not as much as me! 

@virginhst539 sorry for hijacking your post, I have kept this discussion public rather than taking it to Private Messages because I thought it may be useful for anyone else in my position in the future.

@Moonter. Our Constitution gives a minimum age of 14 to become a Junior Member, but in practise we have no issues with Club Members bringing their sons (or daughters) along, even if they are a bit younger.  In the past we have had some adults join the club purely because it is their son's hobby and they leave when their son finds another interest.  I can't give you an absolute minimum age (because we've never agreed on one), but your son would need to be mature enough to engage in what is currently an adult only club (our-youngest members are in their 20s and our oldest in their 70s and 80s).  We do not have any child safeguarding policy, as a youth organisation like the Scouts would, so we would leave you as being responsible for your son's behaviour and safety when he is at our premises.  Finally, as our clubroom is effectively a workshop, there are obviously some safety hazards such as saws, knives, drills, soldering irons, etc and therefore I'd encourage that you make sure your son is aware of the risks of injury from various tools.  However, despite all these caveats, I have no objections to you bringing you son along with you, and as I'm currently the secretary, I can say that as a committee view.

@Moonter no problem. Its a really good club with members who have a great degree of knowledge all things railway related both models and real thing. The club has a Facebook page which has update posts twice a week generally on club nights from club layout updates to member projects