Take a 'Leap of Faith' for Vulcan XH558

TEXT LEAP145 TO 70070 TODAY TO DONATE A FIVER

Well, we've arrived at Leap Day - or whatever you want to call it - and today is a key day in the life of Vulcan XH558 - with the funding appeal continuing, but also at a point whereby the Trustees need to see that the chances of raising the £300k by the end of March are good.

One of the initiatives that I'm proud to have suggested to the Vulcan to the Sky Trust has been taken on and is running today, with the idea of taking a 'Leap of Faith' on Leap Day, by donating a fiver to the cause, on a day that only comes around once every 4 years.

I'm hoping that you'll back this Blogger's suggestion, and spread the word around everyone you know - as their fiver will help in making anyone reading this blog happy - a flying Vulcan is what will make all readers happy I'm sure, but we need to raise the funds to make it happen, so please please please, do what you can!

So, whatever time you do it, please just donate that £5 to this fantastic cause - if you're reading this for the first time and don't know what the fuss is all about, then have a look at the video below, and that will give you an indication as to why we love it so much:



That is why we love this aircraft so much - no other can make such a noise!!!

Take a leap of faith with the Vulcan

February 29th 2012, is one of the key dates in the Vulcan's long & beautiful history, it will see the trustees of the Vulcan to the Sky team meet to see if the plug is to be pulled on the best aircraft around.

If that proverbial plug is pulled on XH558 then it will be a very sad day for all Vulcan enthusiasts, and other aircraft enthusiasts too of course.

There are those that have been saying 'it's time to put her in a museum' whilst others will quite rightly continue to battle to keep her up there where she knows best...in the air.

So far the efforts of many have seen the appeal fund rise to over £50,000 which is in itself an incredible effort in the current climate - and I just cannot understand those who bang on about why the VTTS shouldn't be asking for money whilst there is none around. They are simply asking, not demanding. Do the same people slate Children in Need when there is no money around? That happens on a yearly basis, so does Comic Relief, and the public get something out of that, so what is so different with the Vulcan Appeal - no one is forcing anyone to prise open their wallets or purses, they are simply asking for help. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

Some good ideas have been raised recently to help assist with the fund appeal, the Valentine's Day one was a good one, donating £10 whilst declaring your love for the Vulcan - a nice topical idea, and I've put an idea forward to the Vulcan team - whether it gets accepted and suggested by the fundraising team I'm not sure yet, but if it doesn't then The Vulcan Bomber Blog will still push it!

The idea is based around the social network, between Facebook and Twitter, there are over 20,000 'likes' or 'followers' - now I do appreciate that there is the strong chance that people who 'like' the Vulcan's Facebook page, are also more than likely a 'follower' of the Twitter page too, but that still leaves over 10,000 individuals - so my idea was as follows:

The Idea:

For all 'Likers' and 'Followers' to donate £5.58 to the Vulcan Appeal, on Wednesday 29th February 2012, a kind of 'Leap of Faith' or as I put it to the VTTS team...'One Giant Leap for XH558' - and wherever you are in the world during the 29th February, you could donate, it could be done anywhere across the world, so participants would all feel that they had done their bit at the specially suggested time. It's a one off event that could attract the best media coverage given that they are normally after great stories, and this is a 'Best of British' story that would be a cracker...

Now, having already submitted that idea a couple of weeks ago, the news came out that the meeting would then take place on the 29th February itself, so maybe we could all just donate on the Leap Year day (is there such a term? No? Oh there is now....) - and we can all show our faith in the Vulcan Bomber and help her get past the next milestone of £100,000 which holds a large significance of course.

If every Facebook 'Liker' or Twitter 'Follower' donated the minimal sum of £5.58 then over £111,000 would be raised on it's own - adding to the £50k already in the bank. If even half of those donated, then it would still raise over £50,000 - enough needed to get to that first £100k target.

Think about it for a second, it's £5.58, that's all. It's not a massive amount (even though I'm sure any amount higher than that would also be appreciated, and feel free to donate it!) but if everyone made a collective effort on just one day then anything is possible. Think back to the Children in Need and Comic Relief days, the emphasis takes place on one given day normally, and millions are raised. The Vulcan team are not asking for millions here (far from it, the efforts of many have already reduced the target to a much lower amount compared to previous years), they are asking the public to help keep an inconic aircraft in the air - my thoughts as mentioned before are that 2012 will indeed be her final year up there, so let's all pull together, after all, what's the point of being a 'Liker' or a 'Follower' if there is no display or flying Vulcan to 'like' or 'follow'?

Let's do it, just £5.58 on Wednesday 29th February, 2012.

Here's the link to make your donation

Ps: The Vulcan Bomber Blog became proud owners of a share certificate following the purchase of a Fire Suppression share via the Component Life Register over the weekend, and also related blogs Chester FC and The Daily Banksy also became owners of shares relating to the Engine Swap & Pneumatic Cylinder components.





For best results on the howl, tune in to the very start, and then head to about 6:30 for about 20 seconds!
The Vulcan Bomber Blog

Time to Save the Vulcan

It's been a while since I posted on this blog as other things have had to take priority, but now is the time to come back and concentrate on the immediate future of XH558.

The message of course has come out from the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, that £300,000 is required to cover the costs to get the Delta Lady ready for the 2012 display season - and sure there will no doubt be the usual knockers who say why isn't this or that in place to prevent them from asking the public for money again.

Well the simple fact is that the Trust is exactly that, a Trust, it's not like a normal company who can reel in profits from advertising etc, the one product they have to sell has restrictions, for instance the fact that you cannot advertise anything on it - there are many traditionalists out there that say good, but the sad fact is that if the advertising restriction was lifted there would be no doubt in my mind that the Vulcan team would have no problem finding the money to get her through the season.

I'm not talking about the Vulcan being painted bright orange to represent a particular mobile phone company, or have SKY blasted all over it, although that may be the closest we'd get to Vulcan to the SKY being advertised on her, I'm on about some small but noticeable adverts, that would reel in the pounds needed to guide her through the tough times. Look at the wingwalkers for instance, having seen sponsors such as Utterly Butterly or Breitling, they look good, and that money I'm sure pays for all kinds of things for their displays, I really do think that the rules should be looked at to keep the Vulcan in the air, rather than a desperate plea for money each year.

Personally, even if adverts were rampant on the Vulcan, it would be the sight and sound of the Delta Lady that I'd still be enjoying, rather than the though of visiting her in a museum somewhere.

Anyway, enough about adverts, time to talk practically, funds are needed urgently, and I really do believe that this will be the final year in the sky for XH558, so let's keep fighting, as it would be a desperately sad story to have already seen her last flight.

If you have an idea to help raise funds, then contact the Vulcan to the Sky team, I've got an idea which I'm going to share with them today, and if they proceed with it - and I hope they do - then maybe, just maybe it will play a part in keeping the Vulcan in the sky this year - that's all I want from it. Nothing more.

So, £300k needed then, let's raise it, and prove once again that Vulcan fans are the best around, and keep the old lady up there!