Update 2 - Fundraising & Volunteers
Welcome to update 2 of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust (BHT). We are pleased to say that since our inaugural BHT Volunteers evening at the Pathfinder Café things have moved on at a pace!
First of all, we must thank Pat Marchant (RPM Aviation) and Trustee for providing the exhibition trailer for the BHT. This was deployed immediately at the Blackbushe 80th anniversary event and was a great success. Thank you to those of you that came over to say hello at this event, you will have seen what a fantastic and professional trailer we now have and we are now capable of exhibiting at any major event. Thank you also to Mike Biddulph for supplying the display boards for the trailer which look really professional, showcasing GRW in its various guises over the years.
The BHT received a lot of attention at the 80th event and we are pleased to say that sales of our merchandise was high and our takings were over £1,000. This is a resounding success for our first ever public event and bodes well for the future and the return of GRW to Blackbushe. We met lots of interesting people at the event including several who recall flights in Vikings from Blackbushe, some wanting to donate various amounts of money to the charity and one lady who was an Engineering Stock agent for Eagle Airways at Blackbushe in the 1950s. She explained she met her husband at Blackbushe and he worked for Airwork. She came along with her daughters especially to see us and it sounds like all of the family are into aviation!
Following the success of this event the trailer was repositioned at Blackbushe the following morning opposite the Pathfinder and the plan is to have it open to the public to sell merchandise at weekends in the very near future.
Additionally, one of our volunteers Pete Vickery has agreed to set up a small table outside, but within the Pathfinder footprint, which can be used on an ad-hoc basis to sell merchandise and make the public aware of the BHT. Thanks to Pete for arranging this.
The quality of the trailer and the success of the 80th anniversary event encouraged us to make a very late attempt to get into the Farnborough air show. Sadly, they have already agreed to the maximum number of charity exhibitors, so we are unable to attend this year. However, we will be ready for two years time. Maybe we should set an aim of towing GRW over to Farnborough 2024 for all to see!?
Other news is that we have more volunteers joining us including two more BA 777 pilots who are obviously envious that they never got a chance to fly the Viking when they started out in their aviation careers! However, a handy resource to have if we can get GRW to taxiing status!
As you can see, much has happened in recent weeks and the Trustees regularly speak to each other about news and ideas on how to get GRW back. All of the Trustees are agreed that we really must have another BHT Volunteers evening at the Pathfinder Café at Blackbushe and this time there will be food available for us as well as the bar being open. This event will take place on Friday 29th July at 7pm. If you could please email us to say you are planning to attend, this will help with seating etc.
We really need your help now and we will announce at the event which Trustees are responsible for different areas and how you get involved. Initially, we need one volunteer to help each Trustee in each of the following areas:
Event Management - nominate future events and manage the logistics
Roster Management - roster volunteers for each event including Blackbushe weekends
Merchandise Management - manage merchandise including donations e.g. books, models, photos etc.
Other roles will be made available to volunteer for in the near future.
Thank you for all your help and enthusiasm thus far. If you have any questions or suggestions then please do email us team@blackbusheheritagetrust.com. We look forward to seeing you at the next volunteers evening on the 29th July.
Best Regards,
BHT Trustees