A HERITAGE railway will be able to survive for a few months thanks to the generosity of the public, it has been said.

The Leader has reported recently on an ongoing fundraising campaign by Llangollen Railway.

It was announced that the company expected to potentially lose up to £600,000 after having to suspend all operations from March 23 due to covid-19.

Now Liz McGuinness, general manager, has confirmed that thanks to the company's online fundraising page, a recent auction and share purchases, about £80,000 has been generated.

She said: "It's been a very good boost.

"We have had more than £17,000 with gift aid donated to our fundraising page and with the auction we just held online, we raised another £2,700.

The Leader:

Liz McGuinness, general manager at Llangollen Railway

"But in total, with share purchases, we have had about £80,000 which I did not expect and am very pleased about - people have been so generous.

"The Llangollen community also raised £500 for us with a raffle which was fantastic.

"We started raising money almost immediately when we closed because we had a lot of pre-booked events coming up and we have had to refund about £15,000 so far.

"We will probably have to refund more - and then we have our normal outgoings, which is about £20,000 to £25,000 even without activities.

"So we are hoping we have enough money to last a few months.

"After that things will change, because some companies who have been very kind in offering us payment holidays for a few months will need to be paid.

"We got a Welsh Government resilience grant as well, which we are really grateful for.

"We're still encouraging people to keep donating what they can because we are not sure when we will be able to open up again yet.

"What happens at the next review of the coronavirus regulations will determine whether we can gear up to open in some form in August."

To see Llangollen Railway's appeal, and to donate, visit: https://llangollenrailway.charitycheckout.co.uk/cf/covid-19-appeal