Photo by Nao Takabayashi on Unsplash
An 83-year-old charity volunteer has taken to the skies on top of a Boeing Stearman biplane to raise funds for Thames Valley Air Ambulance.
Clive England, from Riseley in Berkshire, completed the wingwalk at an airfield near Cirencester. Strapped securely to a frame above the aircraft, Clive experienced steep turns and a low-level flypast during the memorable flight. His daring challenge has already raised £960 towards his £1,000 fundraising target.
Clive has volunteered with Thames Valley Air Ambulance for seven years. He decided to support the organisation after discovering that it receives no regular funding from the government or National Lottery and is not part of the NHS.
He believes many people assume that the air ambulance is publicly funded and wants his latest challenge to raise awareness of its reliance on charitable donations.
“Every charity does wonderful things, but Thames Valley Air Ambulance is an amazing charity,” he said. “They are bringing the hospital to the patient. They’re saving lives long before the patient ever gets to the hospital.”
Thames Valley Air Ambulance operates a helicopter and five critical care response vehicles. Its highly trained medical teams attended 3,302 call-outs last year, providing advanced treatment to seriously ill and injured patients across the region.
Although Clive’s friends and family questioned his decision to climb onto the top of an aeroplane, they supported him throughout the challenge.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thrill,” he said. “One or two friends and family have been telling me I’m mad, but they’re incredibly supportive and I’m very grateful for that.”
Clive visited the airfield earlier in the year to make sure he could safely climb onto the aircraft, saying : “Obviously when you get to my age, your legs are a little bit stiffer, so I went down at the beginning of the year to make sure I could climb on the top and we did a trial run.
“You’re not allowed to do acrobatics if it’s your first time, but I could do a steep turn and a low level fly past.”
The wingwalk completes a trilogy of daring fundraising challenges for Clive. In 2019, he abseiled down the outside of the charity’s headquarters in Aylesbury. Three years later, he completed a charity skydive.
