Countdown on for Severn Valley Railway lottery cash

The Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust set up a £1million endowment Future Fund appeal to raise cash for its work in keeping the 16-mile line, which runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, maintained and on track.

The project has so far raised £450,000 in donations but the time for giving is running out, with the match-funding offer from the Heritage Lottery Fund due to expire in June.

Trust bosses say they are determined to secure the final £50,000 before the offer ends with a final push on fundraising.

Two years ago the trust marked 50 years since a group of young railway enthusiasts met in a Kidderminster pub and decided to reopen the line, which was closed in 1963.

The railway has been run by volunteers ever since but now they are teaching a new younger generation the skills to keep the line's historic locomotives in good working order.

The trust, which welcomes 250,000 visitors a year, is pushing an ambitious apprenticeship agenda to become a centre of excellence for heritage rail, which will not only provide useful engineering skills to local young people but also sustain its own future and preserve its locomotives.

The Heritage Lottery Fund(HLF) has agreed to match, pound-for-pound, all donations up to £500,000, allowing a final total of £1million for the railway's endowment fund.

Trust chairman Hugh McQuade said the race is now on to find the remaining balance.

"When HLF awarded us this opportunity it was an amazing boost to our charitable trust, which had only recently been founded," he said. "We’ve been humbled by the fantastic way in which our nearest and dearest supporters have rallied round to help secure the long-term future of the SVR.

“But now we want to make a direct appeal to the public. We know there are hundreds of thousands of people who’ve visited our wonderful railway, and might want to add their support.

"As one of the top heritage railways in the UK, we’re a huge asset to the West Midlands region, and we know how much the railway means to people living here. Every pound we receive until June will be doubled by HLF, so there’s never been a better time to give.”

The trust’s endowment Future Fund was set up to help secure a long-term future for the railway, contributing to essential restoration work on locomotives, carriages and infrastructure, as well as the apprenticeship training scheme.

To donate to the endowment fund as part of the double-your-money offer, visit svrtrust.org.uk, or phone 01562 757940.