THE crowdfunding campaign to save the crumbling Madeira Terraces has passed the halfway point with less than a month to go.

After a £10,000 pledge from the Brighton and Hove Regency Society, the online Save Madeira Terrace campaign, which the council launched in July, now has pledges totalling more than £222,000.

More than 1,250 people have offered donations, including an initial pledge of £100,000 from the council and £25,000 from developers U+I.

The full cost of restoration of the Terraces is estimated at around £24 million, but this public outreach campaign is intended show their is public support for the project. It is thought it will strengthen the council’s hand when appealing for national funding.

Its target is £428,656, to be raised by November 30. Pledges will only be charged if the total is reached.

Regency Society chairman Roger Hinton said: “It isn’t often that a major opportunity to contribute to a scheme of such importance comes along.

“The Regency Society was founded in 1945 to save our heritage and we continue to do so in 2017.

“This pledge is a very important initiative for us.

“The listed Madeira Arches are the longest single cast iron structure in the country and an essential part of Brighton’s identity.

“We cannot let them disintegrate.

“There is little time left to raise the funds needed to make the crowdfunding campaign, which aims to kick-start the restoration by restoring just three of the 154 arches, a success.

“It ends in a month’s time.

“We hope that by setting an example, other organisation national and local will be encouraged to do likewise.

“We also want to encourage everyone to make their contribution - even £2 helps.”

Later in the year, Brighton and Hove City council will go to the Heritage Lottery Fund to ask for a funding bid of £4 million and will need to demonstrate there is strong public support.

The council failed in a bid earlier in the year to gain funding for the project from the Coastal Communities Fund.

That decision led to an accusation from council leader Warren Morgan that the government was “failing to invest even a modest amount in our seafront heritage and tourism.”

To donate to the crowdfunding campaign visit spacehive.com/madeira-terrace