wear a special A1 Trust tie and pay a fixed amount monthly by standing order, and for this they receive honour roll recognition, event and viewing priority, regular trust publications and the right to attend the annual conventions. In September 1996, the concept of dedicated covenants was launched. Now renamed dedicated donations, these were one-off payments of £25 to £25,000 to sponsor a particular part. As with regular covenantors, dedicated donors receive recognition, and an engineering drawing of the component they sponsored. In October 1999 a £250,000 appeal was launched to fund the boiler, whose absence was noticeable with Tornado then comprising a wheeled frame with completed cab and smokebox. As Tornado began to look like a locomotive with the mating of the frame with the wheelset in the autumn of 2000, fundraising progress increased, breaking previous records by recruiting 100 new covenantors in two months. By 2005, the trust had raised over £1.5m. Completion of the boiler was achieved through a half-million pound bond issue. Following securing of the boiler funds, the last major part, the tender, was achieved with a £200,000 single sponsor donation. By May 2008, £2.5m had been raised and spent, and the gap to the required £3m had been raised to complete Tornado. However, due to the Chinese economic boom causing raw materials cost increases, together with increased certification costs, a further £50,000 appeal had to be launched if main line running was to be achieved by September. By the end of September 2008, the Trust still needed to raise £66,000 to pay for tests and trials to allow main line operation.60163 Tornado is on the go! BBC Tees – Industry, last updated 22 September 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008 While at the GCR, the project costs were running at the rate of £10,000 a month, rising to "six-figure bills" for certification in the months up to January 2009. Launched in 2004, the Trust's half-million pound bond issue offered 4% returns, but in January 2009 £100,000 worth of these bonds remained unsubscribed. Sponsorship In 1994 the A1 trust gained its first major sponsor, William Cook Cast Products. In 1997, Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), the then operator on the East Coast Main Line, became a sponsor, and decorated Darlington station for the event, as well as offering free travel for trust workers. The trust gained Rolls-Royce as a sponsor in spring 1998. The trust's principal