Legacies
Leaving a legacy to The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust, an independent charity with the aim to support and maintain the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway as a living museum for the benefit of the public, is the perfect way to support a project that you care about into the future. Money left to us will go through Grant Aid towards projects that safeguard the GWSR as the living museum, helping it expand and ensuring that it is not lost in day-to-day operating expenses.
Gifts in wills have helped the railway achieve amazing things
The Railway is the fruit of over 40 years of hard work by a team of dedicated and committed volunteers and supporters. Over that time donations and legacies have helped to restore and maintain so much.
Legacies in recent years have helped us develop the:
- Tim Mitchell building at Winchcombe providing an all-purpose room on the Ground Floor for education purposes and space where specific displays relevant to our Railway can be staged.
- The first floor of the building was fitted out with a separate legacy to give the Railway a modern facility that is widely used to train volunteers and space for the many meetings required in running the Railway.
- The sympathetic extension to the old Goods Shed at Toddington providing much needed welfare facilities for our volunteers working on our locomotives and the concrete surface to the arrival road used when locomotives arrive or leave the Railway giving a much safer working environment.
- The David Page Steam Locomotive Shed at Toddington was built using money left to us and more recently another legacy enabled us to finish the floor area internally providing a solid working area and including locomotive pits to enable the underside of the locomotives to be accessed safely.
- The paint shop extension to the carriage and wagon repair workshops at Winchcombe giving a clean environment in which the external surfaces of our rolling stock can be painted.
No matter how big or small, a legacy can really make the difference.
What can I do today?
If you haven't yet made a Will, it is something you should consider doing as it is a way that you can help those nearest to you deal with your affairs in the future. We recommend that you visit a solicitor who Will help you write it ensuring that your wishes are clearly set out and understood. If you have already made a Will, remember it is recommended that you review it at least every five years and after any major change in your life to make sure that it always reflects your wishes.
If you would like to leave a legacy or gift to the GWRT, please make sure that you or your solicitor uses our full name and our address and charity number in your Will:- Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust, a charity registered in England and Wales no.1133186 Registered office; Churchward House, Winchcombe Railway Station, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5LD
If you would like a copy of our leaflet “The Gift that Lives On” please download it by clicking on the image adjacent. If you have any other questions about legacies left to us, please use the form found on our Contact Us page. All discussions with be undertaken in the strictest confidence.
Remembering a Loved One
If you would like to remember a loved one on our Railway, please consider our Memorial Retreat. Details below.
Donations in lieu of flowers
It is now very common to be asked to donate to a charity rather than buy flowers in memory of a loved one or friend. Please consider asking for donations to Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust.
If you have collected donations in this way and want to send the money to us a cheque can be sent for the attention of the Financial Director GWRT Churchward House, Winchcombe Railway Station, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5LD. Please include the name and address of the next of kin so that we can acknowledge the donation and if you are a funeral director an email address to which we can confirm safe receipt of the money.
If the person in whose memory the donation is being made was a member of our Trust, a volunteer on our Railway or a shareholder in GWSR Plc please let us know.
If you have any further questions please use the form on the Contact Us page sending the question to the Financial Director.
Our Memorial Retreat
Remembering a lost loved one is something that is important to all of us. Where our memories can be linked to something that our family member or friend enjoyed, then that memory can be become very special.
At the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, we understand the importance of this, so we have established a Memorial Retreat on Platform 2 at Toddington where you can add the name of someone that was dear to you in a location where their memory will be in sight and sound of the trains they loved, be it the hiss and whistle of a steam locomotive or the two-tone horn and growl of a diesel engine.
Established in 2017 against the background of the Cotswold hills, the Retreat was dedicated by Canon Mead, a volunteer on the Railway and made possible by generous sponsorship from the Arden MG Club.
A beautiful memorial plaque to honour the life of a loved can be installed in the Memorial Retreat. These Plaques are available in lacquered polished brass with black lettering; dimensions - 5in x 2in with up to four lines of text; drilled and capped in each corner. The text can be just a name and relevant dates, or you can add a simple comment such as “who loved trains” or “a member and Volunteer”, the choice of how to remember your loved is yours, all we ask is a minimum donation of £100. The application for the Memorial Plaque can be found here.
Thank you
We are extremely grateful for every legacy or gift we receive and we always so our utmost to honour any wishes that are made. To ensure your gift can benefit the GWSR to the best advantage, please contact us to discuss your wishes.
