He had, along with the whole of the country witnessed the Battle of Britain, the fight that took place in the skies against the German Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940.

Charles Austin Brook said of the appeal:[2] Britain and the world owe Reginald Mitchell a debt that cannot be repaid.

We can, however, honour his memory by erecting a temple a temple wherein youth may gaze with confidence towards the future; where physical fitness goes hand in hand with learning and reaches the goal of true citizenship.Initially the vision for the Youth Arts Centre was huge, the City wanted to raise £100,000 and building work was to commence immediately after the war.

In 1957 the Evening Sentinel Supplement stated that the fund's Executive Committee wanted to raise £250,000, £100,000 of this would be to build the Youth Centre and the rest of the money would be to enable the University of Southampton to endow scholarships to students studying at the School of Engineering.

[3] In April 2009 the Mitchell Memorial Youth Arts Centre closed to undergo a major £4.3 million refurbishment of the theatre facilities.