An East Kent Charity competing on ITV to win a £50,000 grant has said the money would be “life-changing” for the scheme.

The East Kent Railway Trust appeared last night on ITV Meridian News as a finalist of the People’s Millions competition.

Gary Cox, funding and apprenticeship scheme liaison officer, said: “It would be life changing. It’s not just about East Kent Railways, it would also have a knock on effect on the wider community.

“Our volunteers have done a magnificent job in keeping it open but without funding we can only do so much so this would really take us to the next step” - Gary Cox, East Kent Railway

“Our volunteers have done a magnificent job in keeping it open but without funding we can only do so much so this would really take us to the next step.”

Finalists of the competition, which is a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund and ITV, were pitted against each other in a public telephone vote from 9am to midnight yesterday.

A short film about the project was also shown at 6pm on the news.

Mr Cox added: “We’ve had great support from Dover District Council in developing our bid, so now we’d like the rest of the community to get behind us and vote.”

Volunteers at the railway have spent more than twenty years restoring the tracks as a tourist attraction and the charity also runs an apprenticeship and training scheme for young people looking for a career in the railways.

Today they are awaiting the news of whether they have been successful.