Transport Trust

The Transport Trust is a British registered charity that aims to encourage the preservation of, and public interest in, artefacts and records of British transport history.

The Trust seeks to act as a hub for the transport preservation movement, providing advice and assistance, organising public events, and working to secure suitable accommodation and maintenance facilities for historic items. The Trust was founded in 1965.

The Trust is a registered charity that supports restoration campaigns and projects.

The Trust also offers legal and technical advice to conservation groups and bodies such as Heritage Link, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the UK Government. It presents annual restoration awards and has a particular mission to encourage young people to take part in restoration projects. The Trust's Patron is Prince Michael of Kent.

The Heritage Lottery Fund commissioned the Transport Trust to assess pressures on the transport heritage movement, and the state of artefacts and locations to help them prioritise applications for funding support. The resulting 145 page report, Transport Heritage: An Assessment of Needs & Potential', provides a unique snapshot of the health of the transport preservation movement in Britain. The movement is important, touching people at many levels and has a wide appeal - it is estimated that audiences and participants in heritage transport activities exceed 15 million people a year, making it one of Britain's most important leisure activities. Britain's particularly rich transport history has no doubt played a catalytic role to build up this level of grass roots participation.

Surprisingly, although there are good collections of artefacts in public sector museums, it is the private sector preservationists that have made the most significant contribution to conservation and to the provision of the active enjoyment of transport by the public. A supreme example is the restoration to flight status of Avro Vulcan XH558, which represents the most complex restoration project ever undertaken globally, was funded entirely by public donations and for which the Chief Executive of the Vulcan To The Sky Trust, Dr Robert Pleming, was presented the Transport Trust Preservationist of The Year award by Prince Michael of Kent.

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