The Churnet Valley Railway's supporting charity, the North Staffordshire Railway Company (1978) Ltd, held their Annual General Meeting on Saturday 5th November 2016 that was attended by just over 50 members.
The NSRC 2016 Raffle was brought to its conclusion, with the winning tickets being drawn following a total raised of £3206. The raffle this year was held to raise funds for the ongoing upkeep of the NSRC's Heritage Traction Fleet comprising of 25322 Tamworth Castle, 33102 Sophie and Brightside.
- The First Prize in the NSRC Raffle was for £200 cash, and was won by the holder of ticket no. 13232 who lives in the Lichfield area.
- Second Prize was for a CVR Santa Family ticket, and was won by the holder of ticket no. 07537.
- Third prize was for a Family Membership of NSRC, and was won by the holder of ticket no. 02154 who comes from the Nottingham area.
Peter Green resigned as NSRC Chairman, and was replaced by the Company Secretary Dr Howard Bould. However Peter has stayed on the board, and was elected as the Company Secretary himself. Meanwhile Geoff Chapman was elected as the Treasurer, with Lee Whittacker being appointed as the Independent Auditor.
Brian Dunn, Chris Knight, Jon Kerr and Aidan Croft were all then elected onto the board, to complete the 8-man board with John Hulse and Martin Pryzyna (who are up for re-election in 2017) and Ken Lupton and Brian Mullen (who are up for re-election in 2018).
An announcement was made about Cheddleton Station, which is currently leased by the Churnet Valley Railway (1992) PLC from the Council. The lease is nearing expiry, and so CVR are currently negotiating for the outright purchase of the station building. The NSRC was announced to be preparing to offer support with a series of necessary repairs required, particularly the roof which will require a significant level of expenditure once an agreement is in place.
The AGM for 2017 was set as Saturday 4th November, and a reminder that the Annual Carol Service was set for the evening of Friday 16th December 2016