Heritage railway hopes for £40,000 funding

Heritage railway hopes for £40,000 funding

8 July 2020

THE Downpatrick and Co Down Railway has launched an urgent appeal to raise £40,000 amid warnings that it could remain closed for the rest of the year.

Officials at the award-winning heritage railway — which has been hit hard by coronavirus restrictions — say the cash is needed to help it get back on track and hope people will weigh in with support for the new fighting fund.

A recent bid for financial support from the Department of Communities’ Covid-19 Charities Fund to cover costs racked up to maintain the business which has been mothballed due to lockdown restrictions failed.

Railway officials said the bid lodged for financial support was submitted on a Friday and rejected the following Monday, much to their disappointment. 

And while Stormont finance minister Conor Murphy last week announced details of a £20m fund for business start-ups and tourist attraction investment, the local railway, which enjoyed a record number of visitors last year, fears that none of the cash will trickle down to help it.

Railway officials say that the arts and heritage sector has been badly hit by the global pandemic and fears that unlike some other attractions, it may not be able to open for business in a few weeks’ time.

Heritage railway chairman, Robert Gardiner, has written an open letter highlighting the organisation’s plight and its “reluctant need” to ask for help in the current financial climate. He said coronavirus restrictions have had a “devastating impact” on the railway’s operations and its restoration work and needs financial help.

Mr Gardiner also said the railway is likely to remain closed for the remainder of the year due to the restrictions around Covid-19 and the specific challenges the organisation faces with its trains, infrastructure and operations. 

“With no income for the rest of the year, we will face major challenges keeping the railway maintained and ensuring our vital work on our carriages, locomotives, track and stations can continue,” he explained.

“Our final attempts at securing Covid-19 support funding from Stormont have failed, so now we reluctantly must turn to our members and supporters to ask for help. We need to raise at least £40,000 this year just to keep the railway in a good condition and make some progress with essential projects.”

Mr Gardiner said he could not see now to resume train operations this year in a way that will be safe and, at the same time, not compound the organisation’s financial situation by operating trains at a loss.

Mr Gardiner said the railway supported the government’s call for a total lockdown of activities in the fight against Covid-19.

Even so, he said the lockdown had a “massive hit” hit on the railway’s finances, leaving it struggling to keep ready to reopen when it is safe to do so.

“We have just under £40,000 of bills to pay this year in essential, unavoidable costs alone, to keep the business in mothballs,” Mr Gardiner revealed.

“We have been paying these through our savings which were built up over the past few years but were meant for long-awaited essential maintenance, critical repair and restoration work to safeguard the railway’s long term future.

“We have watched as heritage railways across the UK and Ireland launched fundraising campaigns but, at a time when people were worried about basics such as paying their bills, buying groceries and had worries about their jobs and the health of their families, we felt that it just wasn’t right to ask for money for a steam railway, so we tried many other avenues of funding.

“Our final hope for funding from Stormont was an application for £18,000 to the Covid-19 Charities Fund to cover the day-to-day essential costs we have already accrued to date, but we learnt within days of the application being made that it had been rejected.

“This was our last chance with the government schemes as we did not qualify for funding under either the £10,000 or £25,000 business support schemes, designed specifically for the tourism and hospitality industry as our rateable value was £1,800 over the £51,000 threshold. We were also not eligible for the Micro Business Hardship Fund, the Sports and Clubs or voluntary and community sector hardship funds.”

The chairman continued: “In short, we have been rejected for support every time because we were too small, too large, or missing a financial threshold by only a few pounds.

“Sometimes we miss out because we have a small cash reserve for those vital projects, a reserve which is also made up of legacy donations from benefactors who have passed away and wished their donations to go to landmark projects rather than pay day-to-day bills.”

Mr Gardiner said the heritage railway’s only public funding was what he described as a “modest grant” from Newry, Mourne and Down  Council and that a question mark hung over this year’s funding.

He added: “We must thank those MLAs, councillors and public representatives who have lobbied and argued our case, even mentioning us in correspondence with NI Executive ministers as an example of an organisation that appears to have fallen through the cracks.

“Many of us within the Downpatrick and Co Down Railway feel deep disappointment and frustration, as it feels like every door we try to open is either locked or closed on us. It also feels like, as a business, we are being penalised for good financial governance.”

Anyone interested in making a financial donation is asked to visit the heritage railway’s website.