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Major donations received for Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Path

The Lake District Foundation is thrilled to announce that it has received over £20,000 of donations for the Keswick to Threlkeld fundraising campaign over the last couple of weeks.

The donations have been made by The Keswick Enterprise Holding Charitable Trust, Keswick Town Council and Keswick Bridge Complex.

The Foundation was absolutely delighted to receive a cheque from The Keswick Enterprise Holding Charitable Trust who generously gave £15,000 in support of the fundraising efforts. The Chair of the Trust, John Harvey, heard about the campaign from the local news and was keen to back the fundraising drive. John said “I have enjoyed the beauty and pleasure of the railway path for many years when I visit Keswick. The scale of the fundraising challenge is daunting but I do hope our donation will bring the Lake District Foundation closer to the £300,000 target and hopefully encourage others who are yet to donate to do so”.

The good news continued with confirmation of £2,000 donation from Keswick Town Council, who recognise that this trail is an important part of the local visitor economy and community.

Similarly, £2,000 has been received from Keswick Bridge Complex. The contribution from Keswick Bridge Complex came from the Keswick Bridge Appeal, Robert Duncan, Manager explains “Since Storm Desmond hit we’ve asking our guests to help get the path back up and running by making a donation to the cause. We are so pleased to help with our contribution and looking forward to seeing the path fully connected soon”.

The Lake District Foundation celebrations continued after a successful fundraising weekend for the Keswick to Threlkeld  Railway Path raising over £1,500. Hundreds took part in the special K2T Challenges set by the Foundation. The Lions and Rotary volunteers were out in force over the weekend leading on the street collections and took donations from successful 5km challengers.

The Lake District Foundation, formerly Nurture Lakeland, is the charity raising funds to protect and conserve the Lake District National Park. Sarah Swindley, Director, explains why the foundation is pleased to be supporting the Keswick to Threlkeld campaign, saying “We are delighted to be spear-heading the fundraising campaign, raising awareness and engaging visitors, locals and the business community to donate to the project. The foundation aim is to encourage those who visit the Lake District to help us to protect and give something back.  The path, is hugely popular with locals and visitors to the Lake District alike, has been hugely missed since being extensively damaged in the storms of December 2015. It’s  wonderful to see donations coming in from the community, businesses and visitors and we thank you all for your generous support”.

The Lake District Foundation have set up a number of ways for people to donate, either via their Just Giving Page, by texting ‘KTOT £10’ to 70070 or by cheque addressed to the Lake District Foundation. All donations are welcomed big and small as they all count to help reinstate the path. You can keep up to date with the campaign by visiting lakedistrictfoundation.org.

The funds raised will go towards reconnecting the Keswick to Threlkeld railway path, some parts of which were severely damaged during the floods in 2015.

Two of the old railway bridges that crossed the River Greta were washed away and one bridge left at risk of collapse and around 200 metres of the path surface disappeared into the floodwaters.

In December 2017 the LDNPA were delighted to announce a major funding boost to the project – a £2.5 million grant from Highways England and a partnership with the Lake District Foundation to jointly fundraise the shortfall of around £3 million.

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