Tram Appeal On Right Tracks

Howard Lake | 17 August 2006 | Newswire

You’ve heard of adopting a panda or a gorilla – now here’s a opportunity for vintage transport enthusiasts to adopt their own tram.
Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum in Co Durham, has launched an Adopt a Tram scheme for its collection of heritage trams. £35 buys a full colour print of the chosen tram plus an invitation to an exclusive tram-themed event with the chance to don a period cap and act as conductor for a trip around the Museum.
The trams available for sponsorship are Gateshead 10 (1925), Sunderland 16 (1900), Newcastle 114 (1901), Blackpool 31 (1901) and Beamish 196 (1935, originally from Portugal).
The scheme follows a successful tram sponsorship campaign where companies with long histories in the region were invited to have period advertisements painted on the trams. The trams now carry the livery of Darlington Building Society, Patterson Ford, the Go-Ahead Group, Ringtons, North East Press, and Williamsons Paints.
Anne Burton, Head of Fundraising, said, “The Beamish tramway is one of the most extensively used in the country with over a million passenger journeys a year. But the trams are incredibly expensive to maintain. They are part of the Museum’s collections as well as being the main form of transport for visitors, and spare parts are not easy or cheap to find.”
“Both companies, via sponsorship, and now individuals with Adopt a Tram, can have their own little piece of history and at the same time make a contribution to preserving north-east heritage for the future.”
www.beamish.org.uk

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.