HOW YOU CAN HELP

To top up the HLF bid, the LCLT needs to raise £50,000 of matchfunding. You can help by joining the Supporters’ Group, or making a larger donation, for which there is a range of incentives. Membership of the Supporters’ Group costs £30 per year for one person, or £50 for a family (two adults and two children). Members will receive a quarterly email newsletter, and can volunteer on the locomotive. Alternatively, one-off donations will be rewarded as follows: Level 1 - £100: Supporters’ Group membership, plus an invitation to a complimentary LCLT supporters’ event at a preserved railway during the locomotive’s first year of operation. Level 2 - £250: Level 1 benefits, plus an extra year’s membership and invitation to two more LCLT events. Level 3 - £500: Level 2 benefits, five years’ membership and five LCLT events, plus two tickets on No. 65033’s first train at its public launch. Level 4 - £1,000: Level 3 benefits, plus two tickets for a dining train at No. 65033’s public launch. Level 5 - £2,500: Life membership of the Supporters’ Group, invitations to all complimentary events, two free tickets to the private/press launch for No. 65033, a footplate pass at the public launch, two free tickets for a dining train each year for the duration of the locomotive’s first boiler certificate, and a special pin badge. Level 6 - £5,000: Level 5 benefits plus a footplate experience course for two people, a reserved compartment for six people at the private/press launch, and entry into a draw to light the engine’s fire at the public launch. Previous appeals - for which the incentives will be honoured have raised a “fighting fund of about £39,000,” says Toby Watkins - “but we have to find the additional £50,000 on top of that - we’re already looking forward to the next overhaul.” For membership details or to make a donation, visit www.lclt.org.uk or write to LCLT, 11 High Moors, Halton, Buckinghamshire HP22 5NY.