National Transport Trust

The Trust acts as a hub for the transport preservation movement, providing advice and assistance, organizing public events and working to secure suitable accommodation and maintenance facilities for historic items.

[1] The Trust is a registered charity that supports restoration campaigns and projects; the organisation additionally offers legal and technical advice to the UK Government and various conservation groups and bodies, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.

A significant example is the restoration of the Avro Vulcan XH558 to flight status, among the most complex restoration projects ever undertaken globally; the project remained funded entirely by public donations, 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.

A push to co-ordinate the movement led to the founding of the British Aviation Preservation Council (BAPC) in 1967; however, very few private collections are represented.

This Battle of Britain airfield, home to Douglas Bader's Big Wing experiments and the first RAF base to receive the Supermarine Spitfire, now houses the Imperial War Museum Duxford; the facility remains the largest center of European aviation history, home to the largest collection of American aircraft outside of the US.

The key needs for the bus and coach category are: the completion of a category register of preserved buses as a prelude to introducing a grading system; a strategy for accommodating at least the most important vehicles under cover (presently 50% of all preserved buses are stored in the open); the conservation of the most important vehicles; facilities for improved public access and education; and an archive of papers, ephemera and small artefacts which might otherwise disappear.

The key needs for the railways category are: a grading system for vehicles and lines to focus funding on the most worthy among these; safe access for the public to workshops and sheds to increase visitor appeal; covered accommodation for both restoration work and carriage storage; a concerted effort to conserve electric trains; support for private enthusiast restoration projects to increase capacity; and the storage of archives to minimize losses of priceless records.

There are an estimated number of approximately 500 small boats of major historical importance which remain designated for preservation; their interests are managed by a plethora of umbrella organizations, to which the National Maritime Museum is attempting to bring a degree of co-ordination.

in order to prioritize conservation efforts; the enhancement of the preservation of the 500 small craft of significant heritage importance, primarily via relatively modest supporting sums; more training in traditional skills; and safe storage, where boats at risk could be placed pending restoration.