Coronavirus: Bomber Command centre launches winter survival appeal

The £10m centre near Lincoln has seen its income drop by 90% during the pandemic

The International Bomber Command Centre has launched a crowdfunding appeal after seeing its income fall by 90% during the coronavirus pandemic.

The centre, near Lincoln, which honours the crews who served during World War Two, said the pandemic had "cast doubt" over its future viability.

Chief executive officer Nicky van der Drift said without intervention "things would be really tight" by January.

She said she hoped to secure enough funding to see them through the winter.

The centre, which opened in 2018 at a cost of £10m, and is run as a charity, has attracted more than 200,000 visitors from all over the world.

The centre was allowed to reopen in July, but has seen a significant drop in visitors, largely due to lack of international travel and restrictions on group bookings

Earlier this year, The National Lottery gave the charity £163,000 from its Heritage Emergency Fund to get it back up and running.

However, restrictions on international travel and group bookings meant it was still facing a significant shortfall, Ms van der Drift said.

"Lockdown has affected so many areas of our lives and of course, many charities, including ourselves have lost substantial income," she said.

"It's hit every sector - we know that, but because we've only been open for such a short time we haven't had that ability to build those reserves needed to carry you through something like this.

"It will put jobs and the centre at risk."

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The campaign is also being supported by a number of celebrities, including Colin McFarlane, who was in two of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and was the voice of ITV's The Cube.

McFarlane, who lives in the county, urged people to get involved, saying the centre's role was pivotal in remembering those who "played such a huge role in securing all our freedoms".

Bomber Command

Bomber Command delivered food parcels to starving people in Holland in 1945

• Almost a million men and women served or supported Bomber Command during World War Two

• More than 55,500 men from Bomber Command died in the skies over Europe

• Only 30% of those that flew reached the end of the conflict without being killed, injured or taken prisoner

• Bomber Command crews came from more than 60 different countries

• Every member was a volunteer

• The average age of those killed was 23

• It carried out the world's first airborne humanitarian mission, Operation Manna, delivering in excess of 7,000 tons of food parcels in 10 days over the west of Holland, where one million people were registered as starving

Source: IBCC

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