Sponsor a Seat

A Seat Sponsorship is the perfect opportunity to honour someone special or simply show your love and support for the heritage railway you adore. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to leave your mark on the past, present, and future of this iconic railway.

We’re starting off with the chance to sponsor seats in our beloved Mk1 carriages, with plans to expand to other carriages in the coming years. Your contribution will go towards carriage refurbishment and conservation, helping preserve these treasures for years to come. If you’re interested in sponsoring multiple seats or want to explore exclusive opportunities, we’d love to discuss custom packages designed just for you!

Sponsorships start at just £300 per year for seats in three of our accessible carriages: No. 4597, No. 5001 and No. 3805. These ex-British Railways Mark 1 carriages are part of our standard service and a proud piece of our heritage, offering the perfect place for you to make a lasting contribution.
 
As part of your sponsorship, you’ll receive a crafted brass plaque with your chosen name, placed at the top of a wooden seat back. Once your order is confirmed, we’ll send you a special certificate, and at the end of the sponsorship period, you can choose to renew or have your plaque returned.

Your personalised brass plaque will be 10cm x 2cm with an opportunity to add a name and choose from a selection of phrases. You will also receive a unique printed sponsorship certificate.

All funds generated through Sponsor a Seat will go towards the running and care of the carriages in our collection, which are maintained and restored using traditional skills and techniques.

We hope to expand the scheme to other carriages in future years to raise vital funds for carriage refurbishment and conservation. If you're keen to sponsor more than one seat or would like to chat about exclusive opportunities that may be available in future, we would love to talk to you about developing a seat sponsorship package unique to you. Please email [email protected]

The NYMR’s collection of carriages spans a history of 72 years, from 1890 through to 1962. 
Our Carriage Stable at Pickering, opened in 2021 and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, can accommodate up to 40 of our heritage carriages across its 5 tracks with a special cantilevered roof.

Seat sponsorships are offered on a first come first served basis.

You will receive a personalised brass plaque installed on the back of a wooden seat in an operating accessible carriage either No. 4597, No. 5001 or No. 3605. All plaques are of a standard size 10cm x 2cm in a pre determined font, size and sentence case - please see sample plaque photograph at www.nymr.co.uk/sponsoraseat

Your plaque can have a name of your choice of up to 25 characters – which must include any spaces and any special characters such as hyphens. You can select one of the phrases below to accompany the name (where Joe Bloggs will be replaced by the name you select).

Joe Bloggs’ favourite journey

Joe Bloggs hopes you enjoy your journey

Joe Bloggs hopes you enjoy the view

Joe Bloggs' Favourite railway

Joe Bloggs Loves this view

Joe Bloggs NYMR's No. 1 fan

Joe Bloggs NYMR’s greatest fan

Wording on the plaque is confirmed by the NYMR.

Please ensure that you carefully check details of the name spelling you send for both the plaque and the printed sponsorship certificate. We will need to charge for any amends due to incorrect spelling.

We will specify the location of the purchased seat and will send you a labelled plan when the plaque is fitted. We cannot guarantee the exact location of the specific seat but you can advise us if you have a preference for window or aisle and we will endeavour to accommodate your preferences.

The plaques are made to order so please allow up to 6 weeks for the creation and installation of your plaque.

Seat sponsorship is a charitable donation and does not convey any rights to use or reserve the seat.

Installation and maintenance of the plaques solely to be undertaken by the NYMR.

We reserve the right to decline seat sponsorships if dedications are deemed inappropriate or offensive.

It is possible that carriages may have to be withdrawn from service in certain circumstances for urgent repair. If period of withdrawal lasts more than 12 weeks, we will contact you about options including potentially transferring the plaque to a different carriage.

Your sponsorship will run for 1, 2 or 3 years from the date of installation based on your confirmed payment. We will contact you towards the end of the sponsorship period to discuss your options. This could include extending your existing plaque for a further term, a new plaque with a new name to run for a new term or ceasing your sponsorship.

You are responsible for ensuring that we have the correct contact details to contact you regarding your sponsorship.

If no contact has been possible with the sponsor within 6 weeks of the expiry of the sponsorship, the seat will be re-allocated for sponsorship.

Once your application is received, the seat sponsorship is non-refundable.

All donations received relating to Sponsor a Seat will be allocated towards our Carriage and Wagon repairs and restorations. In the event that funds have remained unspent for a minimum of three months, the Board of Trustees reserves the right to reallocate funds to other areas of the railway following a resolution passed at a board meeting.

Updated 23/04/2025