Latest VTST Update from Dr P

[Sooty655]

It might be cheaper to ask the Queen to be somewhere else, maybe Sandringham. Nobody would care if they turned it into the crater formerly known as Norfolk.

[Spitfire]

No mention is ever made of the 'text a few quid' facility ......I've heard it mentioned by commentators but not much made of it elsewhere ....even on the home page its buried at the bottom of the page on 'HOW TO HELP'
why not stick it right in the middle of the home page NOW??

I bet EVERY single person surfing the net has a mobile within 2 feet of them and some are even surfing ON their mobile ......they'd be more inclined to text off £3 there and then rather than arrange DDs and send cheques and stuff

Using that premise I have even broken my own resolve and just texted £3 ...... its SO easy

we estimate that XH558 has been seen by over 1.5million people at the 17 venues she has visited around the UK.

If even a 1/10th of those texted 3 quid thats £450K ...

Thinking that Joe Public is very good at accepting displays put in front of him but not very good at seeking out ways to send money to support said displays then the text idea was a master stroke by someone.

So how did it do this year I wonder??

AND why not promote it more actively at this 11th hour (again )

[Spitfire]

I think Elly Sallingboe could teach TVOC a lot!

And even Carolyn Grace

[Sooty655]

I bet EVERY single person surfing the net has a mobile within 2 feet of them

Well, you just lost that bet.

As no amount was specified, how about ANOTHER £3 for 558?

[Spitfire]

Man's gotta know his limitations ............... (which film??)

[PhantomAviator]

At least they can not blame the engineers for not keeping costs down.

Extract...

The engineering programme this year has actually come in under budget, which confirms that we are managing to keep our costs under control..


Shame the others can't do the same.

[Sooty655]

Maybe I'm just being thick (not the first time, won't be the last) but I'm at a loss to understand where the requirement to raise £400,000 by the end of October comes from.

The Trust’s cash position as we move into the autumn is now very tight. Let the figures speak for themselves. As of 31st August, our income for the ten months since the start of our financial year (1st November 2009) was £1,966,917 against the plan of £2,441,492, a shortfall of over £474,000. Our costs though were lower than expected, at £1,880,915, against the plan of £2,160,760, a difference of £380,000, this despite having completed all the planned engineering investment.

That says they are currently £96,000 down on where they expected to be. So does it mean they "only" need to up things by £96,000 to be back on track, or does it mean they already expected to be urgently chasing £304,000 right now?

[Mayfly]

I'm not sure Sooty because I find there are normally so many different figures & time scales banned about I get confused [easily done!!]

But my understanding is they need £400k to see them through the winter & enable them to do the winter service which I believe is relatively inexpensive this year - the funding to fly her next year is still required or may even be in the pipe line.......

Happy to have this clarified if any one knows better!!

[Sooty655]

Fair enough, but if that is the case, then they were indeed already expecting to need £304,000, assuming that the annual budget figures they have published are correct.

If so, it begs the question whether making that planned requirement clear during the display season might have yielded better results.

If the budget had gone exactly as per the plan, and they intended to issue a £304,000 "blackmail demand" at the end of the season, it simply shows that absolutely nothing has changed.

[PhantomAviator]

Fair enough, but if that is the case, then they were indeed already expecting to need £304,000, assuming that the annual budget figures they have published are correct.

If so, it begs the question whether making that planned requirement clear during the display season might have yielded better results.

If the budget had gone exactly as per the plan, and they intended to issue a £304,000 "blackmail demand" at the end of the season, it simply shows that absolutely nothing has changed.

Does a Leopard change its spots?

It is as per the 'Same old, same old' from the 'Same old same old'.

IFThey do get the funding that they claim is needed. We will be faced by the same again next year.

I feel sure that it was claimed by a certain person that we would not be facing the same thing this year.