The Swanage Railway Trust's £50,000 bid to the UK's Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the railcar used to carry Sir Winston to his final resting place and use it to tell the story of the contribution of railways in WW2 has been rejected. As a result, the Trust is making an urgent appeal to all Churchill supporters for funds to enable the project to continue.
The UK lottery fund has been under serious pressure recently, following a government decision to divert funds to support the Olympics. This has resulted in the bar being raised significantly, to a point that the Trust could not commit to resource either a very high level of bid detail or to the ongoing programme of events sought by the lottery fund. While the lottery fund's dilemma is understandable, the news does come as a major disappointment to the team who have worked on the project for over two years and who have successfully returned the vehicle to the UK from California and who are intent on ensuring its preservation for posterity. The bid was supported by the Churchill Centre and Churchill Museum, the Imperial War Museum, His Grace the Duke of Marlborough, the National Railway Museum, the UK's Heritage Railway Association and others. Funds are now urgently needed in order to enable the Trust to commit to the restoration of the vehicle at the end of September, absent which it will have to be moved from the workshop site to open storage, where it is likely to quickly deteriorate. If you can help or would like to know more, please contact me, Steve Doughty on 44-7860-108754 or by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Donations may be sent directly to the Trust at the following address: Swanage Railway Trust (Churchill Project), Station House, Swanage, DORSET, BH19 1HB, UK. Donations can also be made via the Trust's website at http://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk/appeals/, where more details of the project may also be found. Please help us to save this historic vehicle for the education of future generations about an important aspect of the life of the greatest Briton of all time. Thanks Steve Doughty Deputy Chairman Swanage Railway Trust --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
