Charityline Update 21st July 2010

The current policy of allowing charities to travel during the peak with Off-Peak tickets is being phased out. The last date charities will be able to purchase tickets under the current scheme will be 20 August 2010. We are aware that some charities will have purchased tickets for travel beyond this date and we will continue to honour such tickets without penalty.
The phone line, 0845 305 0350, will remain open until 18 September to help with account refunds or change of journey. From 13 August you will need to book all tickets through thetrainline.com website.

Under the new scheme tickets can be bought up to 23.59 the day before travel and collected from a FastTicket machine at the station – removing the seven days notice previously required

Similar to today, the amended scheme will require the traveller to be in possession of a valid charity photo ID card or dated letter of authority on charity headed paper with discounted charity tickets.

The discount is available to registered charities that are able to prove a minimum 10% voluntary funding level. This can be validated by a letter from your Finance Director, or similar, stating your 10% minimum voluntary funding; or for charities with an income over £500,000, a link to the page on the Charity Commission website (OSCR in Scotland) that shows your charity’s funding status.

To register at thetrainline.com

- Click on the Business Account tab and then ‘Create a business account for my company.’
- Fill in your company details. Remember to select ‘Charity’ as the Business Type from the drop down menu.
- After you complete your registration, you will be provided with a business ID number.
- Once registered, please email the Charity team (charitydiscount@thetrainline.com) with the following information:
- The ID number of your business account
- Your registered charity number
- Confirmation of your eligibility
- Please put the name of your organisation in the subject line.

if you email by Friday 30 July your discount will be activated by Friday 13 August. Otherwise, activation will be completed within 15 working days of receiving a valid request.

charityline update

Changes are being made to Virgin Trains’ existing CharityLine scheme later this month - as a result, Virgin Trains are currently not accepting any new account applications. The changes to the scheme are currently being finalised, and we hope to be in a position to confirm and publish the details later next week.

Existing CharityLine customers are advised that although the current scheme will be changing, the existing scheme will remain in place until at least the middle of August, and that any tickets already booked, or purchased between now and then, will be honoured. A letter confirming the details of the changes will be sent to all existing users within the next week or so. This page will be updated in the coming days when more details about the new scheme become available.