A new Spitfire exhibition is to open at Thinktank in Birmingham in April 2015 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

The new gallery is being funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund, DCMS Wolfson and the Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity and a ‘Spitfire Club’ has been set up to raise a further £10,000. For a single donation of £75 or more, donors will become an ‘oppo’ of the Spitfire Club and receive an exclusive invitation to see the gallery before it opens and a certificate of membership. ‘Oppo’ is wartime shorthand for friend.

The scheme is supported by the Herefordshire-based Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity, established in 1986, which donates to other charities.

Mr Richards said: “It is hugely important that we remember the part the Birmingham industry played in this aerial theatre of the Second World War.”

The new gallery will enable young visitors to discover the science of aviation through the Spitfire as well as detailing the lives of the people involved in making and flying the planes.

Spitfires were manufactured in Castle Bromwich from 1940 to 1945 and parts for the Hurricane were made in the city.

* More details: www.thinktank.ac