Just two weeks after Nottingham Heritage Railway launched an appeal to raise funds for a bridge over the A60 at Loughborough £30,000 has already been raised.

An initial £10,000 was raised through online, postal, and text donations. LNER GC Heritage Trust, which raises funds and organises the membership club for the northern end of the line, offered to match the first £10,000 raised pound for pound, bringing the total to £20,000.

More good news is that Friends of the Great Central Main Line from the southern end of the line has offered a further £10,000, bringing the total up to £30,000 raised in just two weeks. A further £80,000 is now needed to complete the appeal.

The appeal is being supported by groups north and south of ‘the gap’ between the two halves of the railway, with the Nottingham Heritage Railway from the north and the Great Central Main Line from the south.

A video of the project can be seen at https://youtu.be/Lk8EvtFG7Xk whilst donations can be made at http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify

Andy Fillingham, Chairman of Friends of Great Central Main Line, said “’To add further momentum to this vital appeal, over the next few days, every person who has previously donated or is currently donating via a regular contribution to the Reunification Appeal, will receive a mailing from the Appeal Team. This mailing will include a letter and a leaflet outlining details of the appeal and also includes a pre-Paid reply envelope to make it as straightforward as possible for supporters to help us continue to maintain the momentum we have achieved so far. Please lookout for the mailing, which has a blue ‘Reunification’ logo on the outside of the letter, and let us all hope we can reach the target as quickly as possible. Many thanks in advance for all your support. It really does make a difference.”