Three 10-year-olds and their fundraising campaign for a slice of aviation history

  • Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's David Hughes


A group of 10-year-olds from Northamptonshire has chosen to spend the summer fundraising for a local museum.

Sywell Aviation Museum has been struggling for funds after losing out on four months worth of income due to the pandemic, and the schoolchildren wanted to do something to help.

Air scout Harry Matthews loves going to Sywell aerodrome and its adjacent museum. Sywell Aviation Museum has only recently reopened after being shut for several months. 

A Second World War Spitfire at Sywell aerodrome in Northamptonshire Credit: ITV News Anglia

Like many non-profit-making organisations, it's struggling for money at the moment - and so Harry, along with the help of his friends twins Amber and Rowan Felgate, decided to start fundraising for it. 

Harry said: "At the minute we're going to come up with some ideas. We're doing a 50 mile run in one month, we're selling the booklets, and we want to kind of do more."

Fellow fundraiser Amber Felgate added: "There's just so much to learn and see, like if you wanted to learn about the war you could come here and learn lots of different stuff."

The three friends will spend the summer raising funds for Sywell Aviation Museum Credit: ITV News Anglia

The museum costs about a thousand pounds a month to operate and depends entirely on donations from the public. So the 10-year-olds' fundraising has been hugely welcomed. 

The senior trustee at Sywell Aviation Museum said: "It's so heartening to see youngsters want to do something like this."

The fundraising project will certainly keep this group of friends busy over the summer.

Their hope is to keep the museum open so others can enjoy the rich aviation history that Sywell has to offer.

A Second World War Spitfire flying at Sywell in Northamptonshire Credit: ITV News Anglia