Heritage Appeal

2013 was a really special year for our museum. To celebrate the anniversary of Mallard’s record breaking achievement we reunited all six remaining A4 locomotives. We welcomed thousands of visitors in July and again in November, with young and old, families and groups of friends, to see the Great Gathering (not forgetting the record-breaking visitor numbers seen this month at Shildon).

Something that stood out during these events was the support we saw from our visitors. We received many kind words and huge amounts of donations. We were completely overwhelmed by, and feel very grateful for, the generosity shown to us.

One of the things that makes working at the National Railway Museum so special is the support we receive from our visitors. Not just during events like the Great Gathering, but every day – last year in total our visitors donated over £690,000.

Last year, the money donated by our visitors paid for the redevelopment of Station Hall. Thank you for playing your part in transforming this much loved part of the Museum, and home to our splendid Royal Carriages, into something really magical. It simply wouldn’t have been possible without you.

This year we have more plans to improve the Museum, allowing access to more of our collection and allowing visitors to get up close to railway heritage. We’re opening up our beautiful Topaz Pullman Parlour carriage, allowing visitors inside for the first time. We also have work to do on our Ellerman Lines sectioned locomotive, used by our Explainers to show how a steam locomotive works.

We’re holding a Heritage Appeal this spring to ask for your support with our plans for 2014. While we receive some funding from the government, our grant has been reduced every year since 2010 and without the generosity of our visitors we would be unable to carry out essential improvements and activities, like the Station Hall redevelopment. You can support us by making an online donation, or by contacting harriet.lamb@nrm.org.uk.

We’d also like to invite you to a special evening event on Monday 3rd March, from 6-9pm at the Museum. Come and see our collection out of hours, meet the team, take part in some exciting activities and learn about our plans. We’d like to say thank you in person. You can find out more about the evening at www.nrm.org.uk/heritageappeal.

Thank you again, and I hope to see you on the 3rd March!