The owners of a Yorkshire tourist attraction, Stump Cross Caverns,near Pateley Bridge, are close to reaching their Christmas Day target to raise funds for essential, specialist lighting deep underground.

The local community, friends, colleagues, and even celebrities such as football presenter Gary Lineker, have twittered, posted and liked the campaign which is drawn live on Christmas Day to win a £130,000 apartment.

The campaign has seen people sleeping in the caves for 105 hours, a Bike Challenge, open days at the apartment and a social media campaign to get the word out. The target has 4 days left and is 98% of the way there with nearly 6,000 supporters.

Stump Cross Cavern is a family-owned business and has had to dig deep to stay afloat through the Covid pandemic. Owner Lisa Bowerman and her team are on a mission to ‘Save the Cave’ to protect and preserve this Yorkshire heritage site high in the North Yorkshire Dales.

Without specialist lighting the popular caves are at risk of a growth called lampenflora, an acid which produces organic acids which damage limestone and other rocks. By replacing the old 1940s lighting with specialist LED lights, it will greatly reduce lampenflora and protect the caverns, whilst also saving energy in this cost-of-living crisis.