Categories: Fundraising
      Date: Mar 25, 2011
     Title: Four weeks to save your Vulcan

Extract from the latest newsletter



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This newsletter is dedicated to the impending financial crisis that could ground the last flying Vulcan just moments before her biggest flying season ever. It could ground her when she has already touched-down at her exciting new home. It could ground her when she is in excellent condition ready to delight more than three million people across the United Kingdom. We make no apologies for asking for your support.

Please read on because we know that you want XH558 to fly this summer. We also know that almost all her supporters are waiting for someone else to pay to keep her flying.
If just half of the recipients of the postal mailing gave £20, we would now have around £400,000 - more than enough for XH558 to fly at around 30 airshows this year. If every recipient of this eNewsletter gave £10, a figure the vast majority of people can comfortably afford, we would have sufficient to enter the summer season with confidence. So why has the spring appeal raised not much more than ten percent of this amount?

The passionate, core supporters are consistently very generous while the rest enjoy her, look forward to seeing her, talk about their pride in her, but do nothing to keep her flying.
Which group are you in?

What do we need to save the last flying Vulcan?


During the first week in April, less than two weeks away, we will decide if XH558 can continue to fly, owned by a charity for the British people. What do we need to raise each month to survive?
£75,000 by the end of March
£125,000 by the end of April
£150,000 by the end of May
£350,000 in total

So far, we have received just £37,145, leaving us the challenging task of raising £37,855 in the last week of March.

Airshow appearance fees cover most flying costs but rarely leave any contribution towards her winter maintenance, hangarage, insurance and other overheads, particularly this year as public spending cuts mean that funding for RAF, RN and municipal airshow events has dropped dramatically.
Last year, however, we began to generate significant revenues from the Vulcan Village (our merchandise store) at shows. This year, thanks to the hard work of volunteers, many from the Club, we will have a full-season of income from this profitable activity.

We also have a range of new commercial activities that will start to make significant contributions early in the summer, including cufflinks and a luxury watch both made with Vulcan airframe materials, a superb print of the XH558 at Goodwood available with a crested display panel signed by Squadron Leader Martin Withers DFC and of course the auction of many more original Vulcan components including instruments, turbine blades and some fascinating technical curiosities.

Data reveals stark truth



How much have we raised towards the £350,000 needed to take off for the 2011 season? The runway graphic has returned to the website and shows how far short of the target we are. Currently, a little more than £37,000 has been raised, most of which has come from a very small number of very generous supporters to whom we are immensely grateful. Thank you.

Substantially less than one percent of the signed-up supporters who received the postal mailing have signed a standing order – just 300. Slightly more than 500 have donated, with an average donation of just £10. Again, this is significantly less than one percent – one in one hundred – of people receiving the mailer or the eNewsletter. But that fraction is assuming that all donations are from people who are signed-up supporters, where as many donations come from people who read about the appeal in the media. This means that a fraction of one percent of her supporters, people who say they support XH558 and want to see her fly, have actually helped to make this possible through the Spring 2011 flying season appeal.

Our most heartfelt thanks go to those 800 people who have donated and to those who already have a standing order or have made a recent donation or purchased merchandise prior to the spring campaign. We hope that these figures will help you understand why despite your personal generosity, we must not allow others within the supporter group to forget how costly it is to operate a Vulcan.

Help save your Vulcan now  - Thank you.