Make a donation

People have been asking how they can donate to restore the BRIGHTON BELLE. We’re trying to keep this as simple as possible. 

• You can just send us a cheque:

Make the cheque payable to THE 5 BEL CHARITABLE TRUST, (Charity No. 11333545) and send it to:

The 5 BEL Trust, Old Hall, Strethall, Saffron Walden, CB11 4XJ

• You can send us some money by bank transfer:

Please pay to THE 5 BEL CHARITABLE TRUST, Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1HF.

Sort Code 30-97-24, Account No. 01162176

• We need your details along with the amount you have so kindly given to Brighton Belle’s restoration:

Name:

Address:

Postcode:

Telephone number:

• Your donation is allowable for Gift Aid, as we can recover taxed income you pay for the current year, and add 25p for every £1 you pay to the total – an important benefit. So will you please fill in the details below after reading the HMRC declaration:

I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference. Gift Aid is reclaimed by the charity from the tax you pay for the current tax year. Your address is needed to identify you as a current UK taxpayer. In order to Gift Aid your donation of £__________________ you must mark the box alongside with an X.  Mark Box  

Please e-mail the form, or print it and send it to The 5BEL Trust, Old Hall, Strethall, Saffron Walden, CB11 4XJ.

Repeat your name and address please to complete the Gift Aid process:

Name:

Address:

Postcode: Date:

Please notify the charity by e-mail via the website or telephone (pm only) on 01799 522 if you have a query or: 

∙ want to cancel this declaration 

∙ change your name or home address 

∙ no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains 

If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.

WHAT THE MONEY WILL BE USED FOR

Restoring Brighton Belle has taken many years, and is proving both time consuming and very expensive. Denis Dunstone, the originator of the project, considered that the only way to achieve a really satisfactory job was to place the train back on the main line – otherwise a restored, not working, 5-car train would be too big to store in a museum, and so would be a hostage to being left out in the open, and so waste the time and effort needed to restore it.  Equally it was obvious that the train in its original form was not suitable for dining, with four of five cars fitted with cramped four-aside seating. However, as a proper dining car train, it would be up at the top of the market, and act as the Queen of all multiple units. The fun of gliding down the main line through the beautiful Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset countryside with the prospect of top-quality dining is not to be missed – and we’ll do it!  Perhaps you will care to join us?

So an arduous road lay ahead – we knew it would be neither easy, nor cheap! So it has proved to be – we are almost there, but help is very much needed to go the final distance. We have to buy so many quality things to finish her off: crockery, glassware, cutlery, kitchen equipment, curtains, antimacassars, blinds, proper uniforms – to name but a few ‘sundry’ items vital to the service on board. Then there is the testing and commissioning – a phase rapidly approaching.  The point of raising money at this stage is that even quite small amounts from a wide range of people add up. We already know this from those kind subscribers who have already been generous. Hence this appeal upon your generosity.

Use the Brightonbelle.com/contact e-mail form if you want to contact us.