The North Yorkshire Moors Railway's General Manager, Chris Price, has responded to Wednesday's announcement regarding the Government's £750m funding for charities, saying its not enough, and many charities risk closure.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway carries 300,000 passengers every year. The NYMR is Britain's most popular heritage railway.
They are, however, a charity, and have closed due to the pandemic, but bills still need to be paid.
They have launched a Crisis Appeal, which you can read more about here.
Alternatively, we are helping the NYMR by donating £5 from every sale of our brand new DVD covering their 2019 Steam Gala. More details can be found by clicking here.
What did they say?
Chris Price said:
“In last Wednesday's briefing, Rishi Sunak acknowledged multiple pleas for help from the charity sector and announced the government's offer of £750 million in funding. Whilst these measures are undoubtedly welcomed, especially by those frontline charities facing an overwhelming upsurge in requests for help due to COVID-19's impact, it's sadly not enough.
“At the end of March, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) predicted that the charity sector would lose £3.7bn of income over the proceeding 12 weeks. As far as the heritage rail industry is concerned, we're not eligible for any of the funding mentioned by Mr Sumak. Here at NYMR we've already had to launch a crisis appeal and turn to members of the public for financial help, and we're not alone. The UK's heritage railways are being hit incredibly and perhaps irrevocably hard by the pandemic and almost all have now had to create individual fundraising appeals to try and secure their future livelihoods.
“Many heritage tourist attractions are suffering cash flow problems, especially when they've been closed for the winter season, a time traditionally used for essential repair and maintenance work despite no revenue being generated. There are huge, very real fears that many charities like ours, could go under if vital assistance isn't provided by the government. Our futures are far from certain, especially as the period of lockdown has no end date in sight at present.
“Here at NYMR, we're fully in support of the #EveryDayCounts appeal to help save our sector and stand united alongside other charities in the hope that by creating a unified, powerful plea for help, the government will provide it.”
Steve Oates, Chief Exec of the Heritage Railway Association, furthers,
“Heritage railways and tramways are custodians of an important part of the nation's history. They contribute significantly to the UK's cultural and tourism sectors, and they bring enjoyment and learning to millions of visitors, plus wellbeing and skills development to thousands of volunteers.
“They provide 4,000 jobs nationally, and are major contributors to local and regional economies adding some £400million of economic impact to the nation's visitor economy.
“But many heritage railways and tramways only have sufficient resources to survive a few weeks. We call on the Chancellor to urgently acknowledge that the measures implemented to combat Covid-19 are having a devastating impact on heritage rail, putting jobs, businesses and the nation's heritage at risk. We urge him to allocate emergency funding to protect those businesses and ensure this part of the charitable sector survives for future generations to learn-from and enjoy.”
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My heart (along with my full support) goes to the NYMR and it’s volunteering lot on what they’re currently going through at these typically difficult times.
I do hope all bills get paid and the NYMR succeeds (as with every other fellow Heritage Railways) on fundraising and fighting back the setbacks caused by this dreary pandemic.
I even with the NYMR (which ‘I Myself’ visited, seen and rode aboard ‘in-person’) Good Luck.