6:03am Thursday 5th June 2008
By Peter Law
THE Daily Echo's campaign for a grand landmark monument to the Spitfire will reach Number 10 Downing Street today.
The Prime Minister will host a reception for a delegation of Southampton heritage champions at Britain's most famous address.
Gordon Brown supports our campaign to create a striking memorial at a major gateway to Southampton.
Mr Brown will officially launch the international fundraising drive to turn the £1.5m vision into a reality.
The event will raise tens of thousands of pounds and take our campaign to recognise the Spitfire - and the men and women who built and flew it - to the world stage. About 40 sponsors and supporters were invited by Mr Brown to spend the evening at Number 10.
Councillor John Hannides, Southampton City Council's Cabinet member for leisure, culture and heritage, will be leading the delegation to meet Mr Brown.
He said: "The Spitfire was an iconic global symbol of innovation and courage, so where better to mark its place in aviation history than the city where it was born. We intend to create a tribute on a scale not seen anywhere else in the world.
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"We have received the backing of the Prime Minister and now we hope the people of Southampton and the whole of Britain will get behind us."
John Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, said: "I am a keen supporter of the project to commemorate the Spitfire in Southampton and was very pleased to be able to arrange this reception with the Prime Minister at Number 10. I am looking forward to attending and hope that the reception will help the fundraising campaign get off to a good start."
The plans will see a striking installation rising 100ft above a major city gateway to commemorate the birth place of the historic plane, which helped secure victory in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.
The Spitfire Tribute Foundation, led by Cllr Hannides, is made up of representatives from the Echo, Southampton Airport and Solent Sky Museum. It is also supported by prominent local businessmen Peter Harding, Robert Sperring and Patrick Trant. The foundation has raised £30,000 from Southampton-based sponsors and the council has committed a further £70,000. The target is £1.5m within 18 months.
Plans to fill the memorial coffers include amajor fundraising dinner, applications to national and international funding bodies, public subscriptions and donation companies worldwide.
An initial concept to have the Spitfire standing on its tail has received mixed reactions from Echo readers.
Designers commissioned by the council are drawing up the final plans, which are expected to be unveiled later in the summer.
The Give us a Spitfire campaign was launched after the Southampton Partnership, an unelected group of community leaders, rejected a funding bid to create a replica bronze Spitfire.
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