Community rail partnership offers ticket to internship opportunity

Newcastle Business School and Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership (TVCRP) have teamed up to offer one student a work opportunity as a Tourism Development Intern.

Funded by the CrossCountry Community Engagement Fund, business student Matthew Barrett will work alongside the TVCRP team to carry out a tourism audit of the Newcastle to Carlisle railway line, as well as assist with their marketing plans over the next 12 months.

Matthew comes in to the role following two years at Northumbria studying Business Management. During his studying he covered several topics including Finance and Global Economy, Data Interpretation and Business Analysis. He also spent time looking at Business Planning in a Heritage context at Wheelbirks Farm, Stocksfield, Northumberland: the award winning ice cream maker.

Originally from Halifax, Matthew has already participated in the TVCRP Heritage open day at Haltwhistle Station and has started on data collection that will support future projects.

Fiona Forsythe, Officer at Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership, said of the appointment ‘All the team at TVCRP are looking forward to working with Matthew in his new role with us. From research we have already, we know that many tourists use the Tyne Valley Line, but Matthew’s role will enable us to understand how we might be able to encourage more visitors to line, as well as the many other attractions the area has to offer.’