Museums large and small from across the UK participated in the pilot auction in October, and all were extremely enthusiastic about the scheme:

Tim Wotton, Development Manager at Porthcurno Telegraph Museum (they raised £478.99) said: "From our point of view the auction has been a great success. Not only is it in itself a good way to raise money but it also allowed us a route to form a relationship with a couple of local companies who were more than happy to contribute towards our item."

"The administration was really good and easy for us. Having seen the success of this we are definitely keen to get involved in future auctions and I think we are much more confident to look at other ways that we can market our involvement and design a really good auction item."

For more ideas and information and to register your interest go to www.toplots.co.uk. To get advice or fine tune your initial ideas contact Plum Merrick - email p.merrick@development-partners.co.uk or call 0845 1301621.

Please note closing date – extended to March 31 2008.