‘Lifeline’ £231,000 grant for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway has announced that they have received a lifeline grant of £231,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund after its application was successful.

The grant will help towards the costs of the railway, such as utility bills and rent from November 2020 until the end of March 2021.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is just one of 445 heritage organisations across the country receiving grants to help with finances through the coronavirus pandemic.

The KWVR joins the Amberley Museum, the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, the South Tynedale Railway, the Severn Valley Railway, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and the Dinmore Manor Locomotive Group in all receiving grants from the Culture Recovery Fund.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said: “As a nation it is essential that we preserve our heritage and celebrate and learn from our past. This massive support package will protect our shared heritage for future generations, save jobs and help us prepare for a cultural bounceback post covid.”

David Pearson, Fundraising Co-ordinator, The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society, said: “The Railway has been an important part of our landscape since 1867. It was saved from permanent closure in 1968 by a team of dedicated volunteers.

Like many other heritage organisations, 2020 has been a very difficult due to the Covid-19 crisis, and our volunteers have been working extremely hard to safeguard our future once again.

During the pandemic we had generous support from the public, and received smaller tranches of funding from other grants, however, we're delighted to have been awarded £231,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund. This will help us to continue running heritage steam trains through the next six unpredictable months. We're extremely grateful to the Government for this support”

Duncan Wilson, Historic England's Chief Executive said: “It is heartening to see grants, both large and small, from the Government's Culture Recovery Fund helping heritage sites and organisations across the country which have been hit hard by the effects of Covid-19. These grants range from giving skilled craft workers the chance to keep their trades alive to helping heritage organisations pay the bills, and to kick-starting repair works at our best-loved historic sites. The funding is an essential lifeline for our heritage and the people who work tirelessly to conserve it for us all, so that we can hand it on to future generations.”

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “It is absolutely right that investing in heritage should be a priority during this crisis and this support by Government is crucial.  Heritage creates jobs and economic prosperity, is a major driver for tourism and makes our towns, cities, and rural areas better places to live.  All of this is so important for our wellbeing and will be particularly vital when we start to emerge from this incredibly difficult time.

Our heritage is still facing a perilous future – we are not out of the woods yet.  But this hugely welcome funding from Government, and the money we continue to invest from the National Lottery, has undoubtedly stopped heritage and the organisations that care for it being permanently lost.”

Want to help the KWVR? RailAdvent is donating between £5 and £10 from every sale of one of our KWVR DVD sets. Click here to find out more.

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