West Somerset Railway passes £450,000 in Coronavirus appeal

The West Somerset Railway has announced that they have passed £450,000 in their Coronavirus Appeal.

However, the railway has confirmed to RailAdvent that they have had to cancel the first weekend of Santa Specials on the 5th and 5th December due to lockdown restrictions and also the 21st December due to low ticket sales.

Since the 27th of October, the appeal has increased by 6,706.37 to a total of £454,969.07.

This means that the railway is over 90% of the way to the target set in March of £500,000.

These totals include the National Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £28,700 for the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust and the WSR PLC’s Open Day income of £21,861.95.

Once the Culture Recovery Fund grant of £865,000 is added to the appeal, it will bring the total to £1,319,696.07.

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The WSR have, therefore, set a new target of £1.5m, with 87% of this milestone target being raised already – just £187,000 to go!

So the breakdown of the appeal is as follows:

West Somerset Railway PLC: £177,649.26 + Local Council donation: £25,000
- Website Donations – £63,945.00
- Cheque Donations – £18,304.26
- Share Purchases – £51,810
- Station Donations – £41,950.00
- Other sources – £1,640.00
West Somerset Railway Association: £158,598.04
- Rail Renewal 2020 – £37,525.97
- WSRA Appeal (DMU Refurb) – £4,100.39
- Loco Renewal Fund – £5,209.
- WSRA Preserve and Protect Fund – £29,801.61
- Trusts and Foundations – £71,961.07
West Somerset Steam Railway Trust: £93,448.77
- Significant donation – £37,500
- Peall Railway Trust Donation – £15,000
- Council Grant – £7,500
WSRA Loan to WSR PLC: £70,000

For more information or to support the West Somerset Railway, please visit their website here.

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