Ellenroad engine house battles for £5million slice

The Ellenroad Engine House.

The Ellenroad engine house is hoping for your vote as the group prepares to do battle against another good cause in ITV Granada's 'People's Millions' programme.

The engine house's campaign for votes has swung into action after they made it through, alongside eight other causes, to compete in the TV contest for Big Lottery Fund money worth £5million.

The group could win an award of up to £50,000 to restore the engine house to its former glory to protect the various exhibits within the building, as part of the People's Millions contest, which will soon be broadcast on ITV Granada's evening regional news.

The group are also hoping to target schools to encourage older students to take up engineering and become involved with heritage activities.

Rochdale's Tourism Officer Tim Nuttall is backing Ellenroad's campaign and is urging Rochdale residents to vote for the project when it is shown on ITV.

He said: "Ellenroad Steam Museum desperately need money to kickstart their regeneration and take the Museum up to the level of a regional tourist attraction. The Peoples' Millions programme in November will not only give them great regional publicity, but also the chance for a cash grant."

The contest, offering grants that benefit local communities, goes live in the week of 24 to 28 November. The eight schemes will make their bid for the awards on ITV Granada regional news programme with the winners being decided by the public in a phone vote.

Ellenroad engine house will battle it out on Wednesday 26 November against a youth project based in Clitheroe. If they are victorious in the phone vote they will win a slice of the £5million of lottery good cause cash.

If they do not win on the night, then the project could still get some cash if they emerge as the 'lucky loser' with the highest number of phone votes.

Telephone voting lines will open at 9am on the day the project is due to appear on ITV and the winner will be announced the following day.

Calls will cost 10p per call from a BT landline; calls from other networks may vary and from mobiles will be considerably more. After operating costs have been recouped any remaining phone revenue will be donated to charity. ITV and BIG do not make a profit from the voting telephone numbers.