GREAT CENTRAL ‘STUNNED’ BY HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND BID REBUFF
The Great Central Railway is “stunned” that its bid for £250,000 of emergency grant funding has been rejected by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Several railways have received substantial grants from the NLHF’s £50 million Heritage Emergency Fund (see panel, left), which, at the time of going to press, topped £2.7 million. Despite having granted the maximum permitted £250,000 sum to the Bluebell, Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland, Mid-Hants and Severn Valley railways, the NLHF turned down the GCR’s bid for the same amount. It is not the first time the lottery organisation has denied funding for the GCR, having withdrawn its offer of £9.5m for the railway’s proposed Leicester museum project – which was to have housed several NRM locomotives, including ‘V2’ No. 4771 and ‘Improved Director’ Butler-Henderson – in late 2017 (SR475).
GCR Managing Director Michael Gough said: “This is another bitter blow from the HLF [sic]. They don’t seem to like us very much, having turned us down for the museum grant three years ago and now this.
“I am stunned, to be frank. The bid was accompanied by a very thorough cash flow analysis; I was sure that they would see how we are running out of funds and would have helped us this time. For me, it really brings into perspective and a stark comparison the generosity of the folk who come here, enjoy the heritage we are protecting and write in enclosing a £10 donation to help us.”
Commenting further, GCR events & marketing manager Michael Stokes told Steam Railway that the NLHF “did not think we had been significantly impacted by the coronavirus crisis to warrant their support” and that the £250,000 would have gone towards “day-today cash flow, as we have used up our reserves which had been built up for various projects.”
Elaborating on its reasons for turning down the GCR’s grant bid, an NLHF spokeswoman said: “We were unable to support the application from the Great Central Railway in Loughborough as it focused on costs for capital works, which were outside the scope of the programme, rather than emergency or stabilising costs. We understand this is disappointing news and would encourage them and other organisations to keep up-to-date with the latest funding, advice and guidance.”
It comes on the heels of the GCR’s recently launched Emergency Project Appeal, which aims to raise £354,000 to fund Quorn yard remodelling work, fence reinstatement and the replacement of the bridge deck on Bridge 341, which carries the GCR over a farm track just north of Quorn & Woodhouse station.
Despite launching the appeal the same day it learned of the NLHF’s rejection decision, the GCR said the timing was purely coincidental; “the appeal would still have gone ahead as it is designed to raise the monies required for various projects,” said Mr Stokes. He added: “Hopefully, the appeal will go a long way towards the projects but we are having a re-think and, with the start of our dining services mid-September and one or two other events in the pipeline, cash flow should get better.”
To find out more and donate, visit www.gcrailway.co.uk/ emergency-project-appeal