During my recent visit to the East Lancashire Railway, I couldn’t help but notice that platform 2 at Bury Bolton Street Station had a semi-complete station canopy.  This is a result of the railway being in the unfortunate situation of paying contractors Robert Horne Group subsidiary, Paperlinx, £18,000 a day before the company went into administration.  It looks as if this money has been lost forever.The Railway’s General Manager, Andy Morris said:

“We’re absolutely devastated by what’s happened and we’re still struggling to come to terms with what this will ultimately mean for the future of the canopy project. The sum of money involved is very substantial for a charity such as ours and it is particularly upsetting bearing in mind the funds were raised through donations and other benefaction. We shall be taking legal advice about what rights we have in circumstances such as this but at the moment it doesn’t look very encouraging. We also need to see what options are open to us in terms of keeping the project on-track and for completion by mid-July, as raising a similar amount of cash to that we’ve already paid out is going to be a tall order. However, one thing is for sure, our volunteer workforce will do everything within their power to ensure the job gets done!”

To support the appeal, donations can be made to the East Lancashire Railway (click here) or alternatively you can support the project without spending a penny by voting for them in Aviva’s Community Fund https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/Project/View/627.  To keep up to date with the latest news, check out the railway’s website www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk

To read more articles from the visit to the East Lancashire Railway’s Small Engines weekend, click here.