£140,000 pledge for eco centre

The Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust hopes to build the Linklater Pavilion, an environmental change study centre on its nature reserve.

But the Trust must raise 750,000 to make the project a reality.

By mid-January, it managed to collect 340,000 but chairman Dr John Parry said the Trust would admit defeat if it could not raise 500,000 by the end of the month.

Last week the Trust announced it had reached the target thanks to a promise from the Mettyear Trust to make up the difference.

The Mettyear Trust is a Lewes-based charitable trust set up by Peter Mettyear, a former director of Parker Pen and current president of the Friends of Lewes.

The latest pledge follows a 100,000 made by the Mettyear Trust last year.

Peter Mettyear, said: 'The case for this building has already been well made and we, as trustees, have consistently encouraged and supported the RLWT in its endeavours.

'But our decision to commit the major part of our total capital to this project largely derives from our intense admiration for Peter Linklater and all he did for Lewes.

'His name needs to be remembered by the people of Lewes, and there can be no more fitting memorial than this pavilion.'

The environmental centre will be named in memory of Peter Linklater, a former president of the Railway Trust and a man who is credited with saving the railway land from development.

The Trust is now redoubling its efforts to raise the final 250,000 needed for the building.