Swallow rigged. Photo: Peter Willis.

The bid to buy Swallow, the dinghy used in the 1974 film of “Swallows and Amazons”, has gained the support of the Nancy Blackett Trust. The Trust is accepting donations to the bid, and because the aims of the bid group, set up by Magnus Smith and Rob Boden, are broadly consistent with the Trust’s own objects, Gift Aid will increase the value of eligible donations by 28 pence on every Pound donated.

The ‘Swallow Group’ plans to bid for Swallow at the forthcoming Turks’ online auction (14th April at 3PM) and if successful, make her available to be sailed by Ransome fans around the United Kingdom.

The Nancy Blackett Trust has no plans to own the Swallow itself, or to get involved in her management and operation, but has volunteered to offer what help and guidance it can, and looks forward to taking part in joint events and activities.

How to make donations:

Donations can be made as follows:

• by credit card/debit card/account via PayPal
• by cheque, using this printable form (signed, with cheques made payable to the Nancy Blackett Trust, and posted to the address thereon)

To be eligible for Gift Aid, donors must be UK income tax payers, who have paid enough tax to cover the rebate on their donations. Already some 85% of the estimated bid cost has been pledged (taking the Gift Aid into account).

The organisers would like to encourage as many of the pledges as possible to be donated in advance of the auction, and the Nancy Blackett Trust has promised to hold all cheques received pending the outcome, and to return them if the bid should be unsuccessful. The same promise applies to the PayPal donations. This will help to relieve pressure on the Trust and the organisers if the bid succeeds, as settlement has to be made within twenty-four hours and all pledges will need to have been honoured by then.