YOU DID IT!
Bletchley Park has just announced that, thanks in no small part to your amazing generousity, they've been able to buy the papers for public display.
This is great news, and everyone who has donated should feel thoroughly proud of themselves.
For more information on how Bletchley Park has ended up with the papers, and what will happen to them now, you can read the story here.
Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. When I set up this fundraising effort, I doubted it was possible - but the astounding response from you all has left me humbled and proud to have been a small part of something big.
The remainder of the page below remains for posterity.
A SECOND CHANCE!
Well, there's good news and bad news on the campaign front. First, the bad news: we didn't win the papers at auction. The good news: neither did anyone else.
I'm currently awaiting a message from Christie's to find out what happens to the papers now, after they failed to reach the reserve price and were passed back: they will either enter an 'after sale' at another time, in which case we have a chance to raise more funds and secure a bid, or they'll be sent back to the seller, in which case there's a chance for Bletchley Park to make a private offer.
In either case, more donations are required! Please keep on giving, and if you have any suggestions as to how to get Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo!, Facebook, and other high-tech firms to match or better the incredibly generous donation of $100,000 made directly to Bletchley Park by Google in support of this campaign please let me know!
Alan Turing is a name synonymous with modern computing. A pioneer, war hero, and all-round great guy, he was snatched from us before his time due to prejudices surrounding his sexuality.
Bletchley Park, the home of Station X where Turing worked to break German ciphers during the Second World War, does its part to keep him in our memories - but it needs our help.
Auction house Christie's is to auction off an impressive quantity of Turing's offprints, including his first published paper. It's thought to be the largest collection in the world, put together by Turing's friend Professor Maxwell Newman to whom Turing presented the offprints. They belong in a dedicated museum, but Bletchley Park can't afford the £300,000-£500,000 guide price.
As a result, I'm asking for volunteers to dig deep and see to it that these papers not only stay in this country, but stay where the public can see them and benefit from them. Let's save them from being locked away in the vaults of a private collector.
It's a big ask, looking for half a million pounds, I know - but if you work for a high-tech company, use a 'universal computer,' or are in any way connected with modern computing, you owe Turing a debt of gratitude - and this could be a way to help repay that debt.
Please, consider donating. Every little helps, as a certain supermarket chain would say.
If you'd like to donate, please do so as soon as possible - the auction is on the 23rd of November, so we haven't got long if we want to save this historic treasure for future generations to enjoy!
In the - hopefully unlikely - event that we don't reach our goal, fear not: the money raised will be still be going to Bletchley Park Trust, to support the charity's great work.
