558 To Fly in 2009

[IanM]

Eddie just posted on the VTTS Forum...

"It might be a while before Robert's announcement reaches Paul for publication on the website, so here's what you've all be waiting to hear...

Although nearly £1M has been pledged, the project had no cash to continue operating long enough to start collecting that money and would have ceased operation today.

HOWEVER, Aerobytes & Judd Power have provided the immediate cash required to pay the wages for the coming month.

So long as the pledges are honoured, we all have a very noisy & splendid year to look forward to."

[Tom.com]

glad to hear it!

[IanM]

Vulcan now truly "The People's Aircraft"

Thousands of pledges provide a future for the Vulcan

One month ago, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) had to announce that the prospects of seeing Vulcan XH558, the world's only flying Vulcan, ever flying again were looking very poor as the result of the lack of cash, and that notices had had to be given to its employees that their jobs would end on Friday 6th March

With the launch of a Pledge Campaign to raise £1million, VTST based its future on the public's affection for the Vulcan and their desire to see it fly.

As the deadline of the end of today approaches, the Pledge Campaign has this morning (11.00am) passed £956,835, pledged by over 9,821 supporters, and so has excellent prospects of passing its goal of £1million imminently.

This is the third time in seven years that the future of the Vulcan in flight has been saved by the support of thousands of members of the public, making XH558 "The People's Aircraft". Never has one historic aircraft owed so much to so many!

Sponsors provide breathing space

On their own, pledges can't solve the Trust's immediate cash problem, because they each need now to be converted into cash donations. The Trust is therefore very grateful to its sponsors, Aerobytes Ltd and Judd Power, who have today committed sufficient cash to keep the Trust going for another month, allowing time for the pledges to be redeemed.

As the result, VTST is delighted to announce that it is able to continue its activities on a more secure financial footing, and that the prospects of seeing the Vulcan fly in 2009 are now good.

Supporters led the way forward

For the past month, supporters of the Vulcan have been tireless in their fundraising activities, ranging from the cross-country Vulcan Scramble, to "Pledgathon" events across the UK. VTST is enormously grateful to all the members of the Vulcan to the Sky Club for their help.

Inspiring the Young

There are well over 10 million young people who have never seen the Vulcan in flight. Following the success of the Pledge Campaign, these youngsters now have an opportunity to experience this inspirational "once seen, never forgotten" sight.

Because we cannot assume that all the pledges will be honoured, we are asking the the public to continue to pledge financial support, either through our website www.vulcantothesky.org or by phone to our office on 0116 247 8145. We have demonstrated that even the smallest pledge helps, because it is people in their thousands who make the difference.

Robert Pleming
6th March 2009

[Tom.com]

thanks for that

just a thought but if there are about 60,000,000 in the UK surly you could just get 1,000,000 of them to donate £1

[Hungry Haggis]

HAHAHAHAHA Someones having another Larf over there
Amounts Pledged /£K One-Off Monthly Total
Personal : £680,334 £384,223,270 £384,903,604
Business : £79,990 £7,440 £87,430
Totals : £760,324 £384,230,710 £384,991,033

[Xplumberlives]

thanks for that

just a thought but if there are about 60,000,000 in the UK surly you could just get 1,000,000 of them to donate £1

oh the INNOCENCE of YOUTH!

[Spitfire]

Sorted now - back to £994K - then down to £981K ...... obviously more than 1 prat pledge then

Should be at a genuine £1m some time tonight or early tomorrow perhaps

[Tom.com]

thanks for that

just a thought but if there are about 60,000,000 in the UK surly you could just get 1,000,000 of them to donate £1

oh the INNOCENCE of YOUTH!

I know what your thinking but £1 isn't a lot to ask from people

[Saracenman]

yeah - if you like Vulcans!

i do hope you've given your £1 to the 'Antique British Tin-opener and Corkscrew Association' - they're struggling at the moment i hear!

sm

[Mayfly]

yeah - if you like Vulcans!

i do hope you've given your £1 to the 'Antique British Tin-opener and Corkscrew Association' - they're struggling at the moment i hear!

sm

I didn't reakise that SM have you their web addy please

[MadNaddy]

yeah - if you like Vulcans!

i do hope you've given your £1 to the 'Antique British Tin-opener and Corkscrew Association' - they're struggling at the moment i hear!

sm

I didn't reakise that SM have you their web addy please

Im just catching up on the threads (slowly) and read this..... Sorry SM i'm gonna have to give this one a miss as this just doesn't float my boat. I know it's just £1 but I'd rather give £2 to another charity if that's ok........

[IanM]

yeah - if you like Vulcans!

i do hope you've given your £1 to the 'Antique British Tin-opener and Corkscrew Association' - they're struggling at the moment i hear!

sm

I didn't reakise that SM have you their web addy please

Im just catching up on the threads (slowly) and read this..... Sorry SM i'm gonna have to give this one a miss as this just doesn't float my boat. I know it's just £1 but I'd rather give £2 to another charity if that's ok........

I think that was SM's point

[Wedgy]

Not posting this on TVOC forums, as I don't want to start another thread that people jump on and post in negative way towards 558 ...

But I do hope they sort out the collection of Pledges soon.
I'm sure I am one of thousands who budget on a monthly basis and a pledge made was based on what I could afford that month.
If the collection doesn't start soon and it will be April before long, then my pledge money maybe lost in the weekly shop

This should have been sorted out before the pledge campaign started

I do hope pledges are not lost due to the response "sorry, I don't have the money anymore"

[MrTim]

I hope they do too. Monthly pledges were 'annualised', but this does assume everyone will give for a whole 12 months. It mentions 'ongoing' on the pledge form but I'm not sure everyone will have intended their pledge to be permanently ongoing. I didn't. I like many others have 'pushed the boat out' rather a lot this time under exceptional circumstances.

So whether all the monthly pledges will amount to the annualised total is yet be seen.

[Mayfly]

I see this question is being asked on other fora too. Does anyone know why it is taking so long?

I can't believe the method of collection hadn't been planned long before the end date of the scheme.

[MrTim]

I assume they will be writing to people, and if so, there is the printing and distribution to arrange. I doubt they would have had this done beforehand because up until about Wednesday it was still looking very doubtful the target was going to be achieved. It's only been just over a week since it was called so I suspect they are well on with it and have worked out their plan.

[Stevieboy]

It is my understanding, from speaking to commitee members yesterday, that those who've pledged will be recieving letters, asking /detailing payment methods for pledge redemptions, towards the middle of (or later - memory is failing me ) this week.

[MrTim]

An official response from Dr Bob is now in the VTST home page.

[RLN]

Thanks MrTim. Nice to see the wheels are moving.

[Wedgy]

Vulcan '09 Pledge Campaign - redemption status
13th March 2009


The dust has now settled since the 1million pledge target was reached, and the VTST team have had time to reflect on what was a staggeringly successful few days, when through a truly remarkable team effort over £500,000 in pledges were received - very humbling in a number of ways, with the affection by the public for the Vulcan made so very apparent.

A huge thank-you to all who pledged, and to all those who generated pledges by their activities, most significant amongst whom are the volunteer members of the Vulcan to the Sky Club.

We now have proof, if any is needed, that XH558 is truly the People's Aircraft like no other. Plans for our new funding models going forward will include significant growth in the numbers of XH558's supporters.

Activities to ask for pledges now to be honoured are well under way. Nearly 11,000 letters will be sent out from our mailing house on 19th March next week, so if you have pledged, please watch your doormat soon after that. To make it easy to match donation to pledge, each letter has a unique identifying number, so if you don't want to be asked twice, please don't send in any money without the letter!!
We have taken on board the value and importance of communicating better with our supporters, so each letter gives an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments and suggestions.

As I write, the total pledged is £1,007,845 - a stunning achievement for a non-humanitarian cause. Well Done everyone!
We can now look forward with confidence to seeing XH558 flying this summer.

Robert Pleming
13th March 2009

[Old Rigger]

All it needs now is to be posted on the other forums who have been asking for this gen or we will not get as much back as we hope, as they are getting a tad miffed about being told to wait for news from on high all the time. It is almost as if the managementd did not in reality expect us to get the money pledged and they have been caught on the hop so to speak IMHO of course.

Hope the above is not a taboo subject or content in here

[Saracenman]

well all i can say is AT LAST!

I've been banging on for months about focusing on increasing Club membership - it fell on deaf ears!

fortunately though, we now have a couple of key people who 'get it' and it's nice to see the penny finally dropping with Dr. P himself, particularly with regard to "We have taken on board the value and importance of communicating better with our supporters"

i know that Michael Trotter is treating this as TOP priority!

what Club members actually GET for their membership is also being reviewed as we speak - and the next Club magazine looks to be a FAR better effort than ever before - all as a direct involvement of we Club members.

as I've said elsewhere, it will not be long before we ALL see vast improvements, in various areas, for ourselves.

sm

[Pujgnie]

Well.. as long as we are NOT in the same crisis this time next year - I will be happy.

Many Club members have strived to get her the media attention to pull this 'out of the bag'. IMO it is the Forum members that have 75% credit to raising said funding. Without the ideas and input from club members, 558 would probably be destined for USA or a museum today.

JMO

[Saracenman]

i have to agree - it wasn't the first time either, by any means. it does irritate me somewhat that there are those at Brunty who think the forum nothing more than a place for idle chit-chat and general moaning about management!

fortunately, those that REALLY matter know the truth!

sm

[Pujgnie]

:ymapplause:

i have to agree - it wasn't the first time either, by any means. it does irritate me somewhat that there are those at Brunty who think the forum nothing more than a place for idle chit-chat and general moaning about management!

fortunately, those that REALLY matter know the truth!

sm

Hopefully things are changing.

The Forum is the 'voice' for us for the future, we are the ears and eyes across the UK. Input from our end SHOULD not be just scoffed at. Many a good fund raising idea has originated from there, past and present.