We need your help to raise the final £65,000 required to complete the Herston Carriage Shed and turn our vision for undercover accommodation for our carriage fleet into a reality.

Our carriages are currently stored outside and exposed to the elements all year round. This new covered accommodation is urgently required to help protect some of the Swanage Railway's most historic and valuable carriages, the oldest of which is over 80 years old! The irreplaceable vehicles will significantly benefit from protection against the weather to increase the intervals between overhauls while also reducing the time and expense associated with their maintenance.

In early 2020 we launched an appeal which raised £30,000, alongside this we started foundation work on site. Fundraising was paused in March 2020 and our focus instead switched to the Save Our Service Appeal, launched to mitigate against the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic and ensure our railway survived through the winter.

We are now in a position to return to the Herston carriage shed project. Thanks to successful fund-raising efforts as well as generous legacies and bequests, we have already raised £177,000 towards the building costs.

We had hoped to secure a grant to part-fund the construction but owing to Covid-19 this was no longer available. Without the grant, because of the early closure of the original appeal and allowing for inflation, we need your help to raise the final £65,000 by the end of June. If we meet this target, the steel structure of the carriage shed can be manufactured and installed on the site in November, enabling us to complete the new shed in early 2022.

You can donate by visiting www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/carriage-shed-appeal for PayPal and details about bank transfers and cheques along with Gift Aid that can further boost your donation by 25%.

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