A CHARITY which has supported the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for three decades is preparing to close down.

The York Area Group is a charity which fundraises for the NYMR, and will cease to operate after 30 years of recycling paper and aluminium products.

Volunteers for the group have recycled more than 3,100 tonnes of waste paper and cardboard, seven tonnes of aluminium cans, 32 tonnes of aluminium foil and 103 tonnes of glass over the years, and raised more than £113,000 of funds for the railway.

The group started collecting waste paper in the waiting room in Pickering Station in 1973 before moving to Poppleton on the outskirts of York the following year. Although they have enjoyed rent-free accommodation with three owners over the years, the site is to be redeveloped, and the group’s operations will end this month.

David Rice from the York Area Group said: "I would like to congratulate all the hard work and achievements of its members over the past three decades. After losing the rent-free site at Poppleton and not being able to source a central York location, the group have decided to recycle its last can for the final time."

Over the years, the group has funded rolling stock, repairs for track maintenance vehicles, and behind the scenes operations along with the upgrading of trackside mile posts and other items.

The railway costs about £6.4m each year to run, and Chris Price, NYMR’s general manager, said without fundraising groups like the York Area Group, "we would not be able to keep the railway functioning".

He said: "The York Area Group have been an integral part in the railways wider fundraising effort and without the groups valuable support over the past 30 years many of the projects would not have come to fruition.

"Many of the projects carried out by the group have been vital for the railways development and ‘behind the scenes’ work, including storage for our Permeant Way department, which cost in the region of £100,000."

The team, which also includes Simon Cox, Mick Watson, Mike McDonald, Doreen Williams, John Meredith, John Hasler and Graham Robinson, will end operations on August 31.