During December 2008, the Irish Traction Group launched its latest fundraising appeal, the “ITG Development Fund”. This appeal is to help raise funds to help secure the future of the ITG’s collection of preserved diesel locomotives and fund their continued restoration.

In November 2009 the ITG had to remove several of its preserved main line locomotives from Inchicore Works, where they had been kept in secure storage for several years, to new homes. This was due to proposed redevelopment work, which meant that large areas of the Works would be lost under the new development. 001 (A) class locomotive A39 was moved to the Downpatrick & Co. Down Railway, Downpatrick, Co. Down, whilst 001 (A) class locomotive A3R, 121 (B) class locomotive 124, 181 (B) class locomotive 190 and 201 (C) class locomotive C231 were all moved to the West Clare Railway, Moyasta, Co. Clare, for display at a proposed new museum that is due to be constructed at the site soon. In addition, 141 (B) class locomotive 146, which was secured for preservation by the Group in May 2010, will also need to be moved down to the West Clare Railway later in 2010. Funds already donated to this appeal have already been fully utilised in meeting the removal and transportation costs of these locomotives.

However, the amount so far received still falls well short of the actual cost of the movement of these locomotives to their new homes, so further donations are still desperately needed. The shortfall in the funds available to move all five locomotives has had to be taken from the individual locomotive funds for the time being. This needs to be recouped eventually, so as to ensure that funds are still available in the future to maintain and restore the locomotives themselves.

Please remember that the future of the Group, and the security of its collection of locomotives, depends on the results of this appeal. Please give whatever you can, whenever you can, and help us to continue with our aims. If you can possibly set up a monthly standing order to make regular donations to the ITG, then this would be ideal. Just £ 10 per month would be a good start; even more would be much appreciated. One-off donations of whatever size will also be gratefully received. Please remember that those donations received from UK taxpayers will also qualify for Gift Aid, which will means that the ITG can claim a further 28 pence from HM Revenue & Customs for each £1 donated. Donations should be sent to the Irish Traction Group at the following address:

The Treasurer, Irish Traction Group, 31 Hayfield Road, Bredbury, Stockport, Cheshire, SK6 1DE.

Please make cheques/postal orders payable to the “IRISH TRACTION GROUP”.

 Please help us to secure an important part of Ireland’s railway heritage, time is rapidly running out. Thank you.

 The Irish Traction Group is registered as a charity in England & Wales (Charity reference no. 1000382)

Gift Aid

Being a registered charity, the Irish Traction Group is entitled to claim back Income Tax on Gift Aid donations made to the Charity from HM Revenue & Customs. For every £ 1 donated to the Charity as a Gift Aid donation, the Charity can claim back a further 28 pence from HM Revenue & Customs. This is of great benefit to charities such as ours, as it brings in valuable additional funds at no extra cost to the person making the Gift Aid donation.

We have a separate form for Gift Aid donations. It is a form that the donee signs to confirm that all donations that they make to the Charity are Gift Aid donations. We can only claim Gift Aid on donations made by UK Income Tax payers; therefore, regrettably, none of our Irish members qualify.

Gift Aid Application Form (24kb)