Good morning,
I realise it will be a little early for many of you but I had a moment so thought this as good a time as any to bring you some news. As you know we have recently begun to plan and organise the project to restore our historic pier railway. Well I am delighted to confirm that we have received our first significant financial support with a grant of £10,000 from the Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation. This really is a fantastic start to our fundraising campaign to restore the 98 year old pier railway. As we head towards its centenary of almost continuous operation we have put together an ambitious plan to raise over £200,000 to fund this element of the project.

Of course we recognise that right now our public interest is our common interest and so we have suspended most of our operations and activities during the Covid-19 health crisis. However as soon as circumstances permit we will resume working hard to secure the funding we need to ensure the future of this unique piece of our heritage.

Here is the press release we have issued regarding the grant. 
If you would like to help us keep the railway restoration plan on track then email us on info@hythepierha.org.uk or message us here Hythe Pier Heritage Association – HPHA

Enjoy your weekend

Stay safe

Regards

Peter King

Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation grant puts railway restoration plan on track 
Hythe Pier Heritage Association has received support for its plans to restore the historic Hythe Pier railway with a grant of £10,000 from the Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation, a charity established to support local organisations and individuals. 
Peter King, chair of HPHA welcomed this support saying, “this is a great start to our funding campaign to support the restoration of historic and much loved pier railway. We are very grateful to the Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation for their support and endorsement of our plans”.
He added “these funds will be used to buy the materials we need to begin the work to rebuild the railway carriages which are in a poor state of repair. The work will begin once the current restrictions imposed due the Covid-19 Coronavirus crisis have been lifted “.
The Hythe Pier railway first began operating in the summer of 1922 and apart from a short period following the collision with the pier by the dredger ‘ Donald Redford ‘ in 2003 it has been operating continuously throughout the last 98 years. It is recognised in the renowned Guinness Book of Records as the ‘longest continuously running electric pier train in the world’.
The Hythe Pier Heritage Association was established as a community group during the autumn of 2016 following the announcement by the former operator White Horse Ferries, that the ferry service between Hythe Pier and Town Quay in Southampton might close, It has since registered as a community benefits society in February 2018 and was granted exempt charitable status by HMRC later that year. Volunteers are now working on a plan to secure a long term lease of the Victorian pier and seek major funding to restore and redevelop it to create a community facility for public benefit and to advance the education of the history and heritage of the pier, train and ferry in the community.