TRAINSPOTTERS are not required... but the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York is seeking volunteers.

The museum has launched its first recruitment poster campaign to recruit younger helpers during National Volunteer Week.

The NRM wants to project a new youth-friendly image with posters being sent to pubs, clubs, colleges and universities.

"Unfortunately, some people still think that you have to be mad about trains to appreciate what the NRM has to offer, but that is just not the case," said museum volunteer development officer Kate Waddon. "We set about creating recruitment posters that young people could relate to easily, hence the use of text messaging."

Eye-catching posters include an invitation to "Get down and dirty", another uses specially-invented text messages to say "Anrks nt reqd" (Anoraks not required).

"The only problem was we couldn't find a text language relating either to trains or to volunteering, so we had to invent one," said Mrs Waddon. The new terms will now be sent to the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary, including a specially-designed train text symbol. The posters will also be part of a display at the museum entrance to celebrate National Volunteer Week.

Updated: 10:39 Tuesday, June 03, 2003