To enter visit www.freedomintheair.org/freedom-raffle/

The line-up includes Kings of Leon, Kasabian, Paul Weller, Pet Shop Boy and The Prodigy (shown). The winner will get a “Prodigy Goodie Bag” given by The Prodigy.

The raffle closes 10 August and the draw date is 15 August. Freedom in the Air will video the draw and post it online so you can see the draw take place. The winning ticket number will be posted to the Freedom in the Air website and the winner will be contacted directly by email and phone.

The promotion is to raise the profile of Freedom in the Air (FITA) – a unique not-for-profit flying school specifically for people with disabilities based at Cranfield Airport, EGTC. FITA is committed to opening horizons for people with disabilities so that they can fly higher socially, physically and professionally.

10 people with a mixture of disabilities from Attitude is Everything will have the chance of a lifetime to experience the freedom of flight, in the hope that it may expand their horizons when they attend the “Freedom Wings” day.

Attitude is Everything began as a pilot project in September 2000 as a response to Deaf and disabled people’s desire for fair treatment at music venues, clubs and festivals. They set out to address an apparent lack of awareness in the music industry of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and its obligations.

For full story  click here (PDF file)

Gautam Lewis of FITA collaborated with one of our Ambassadors Carol Naughton to produce the Peace of Art show in London.

Peace of Art Gig (Peace of Art ) took place at the University of London Union (ULU) on Tuesday 4 November 2008. That day had been chosen as it was the centenary of the birth of Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat, who launched the WMDAP (Weapons Of Mass Destruction Awareness Program) spent most of his life working for a world without war and nuclear weapons.

In conjunction with the Pugwash Conferences, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for their efforts towards nuclear disarmament. November the 4th 2008 was also the US elections – start of a new culture of peace – and thankfully a new President.

Damon Albarn of Blur talked about his literary influences before presenting the Written Word award and Rusty Bradshaw of Razorlight gave out the award to the winners of the music category. They will be performing at this years Glastonbury Festival, at the Blazing Saddles stage, along with The Futureheads. So it was great to see Geoff Martin, the Leftfield stage organiser, present the special invite to the winners, from Canons High School in Edgeware for their song “Walk Away”.

Around 130 young people, along with teachers, parents, friends and invited guests gathered at ‘The Venue’ in the University of London for the Peace of Art Awards Ceremony.

These are the rough timings for Get up Stand up – which is part of the WMD awareness programme at Blazing Saddles stage, Glastonbury 2009, on June 27th.

4.35 Ivan Brackenbury
4.55 Ed Byrne
5.15 The Futureheads
5.45 Music contest winners from Peace of Art ( Canons High School )
6.00 Tony Benn MP
6.10 Marcus Brigstocke

Come Clean Website

Listed at 16 in the top ‘50 things to do at Glastonbury‘. The guys filled Leftfield and beyond, raising awareness about nuclear weapons with their show of comedy, music and politics. We are glad to be able to help book the music talent for them and now look forward to Peace of Art event on Nov 4th.

Thanks to Geoff and all at Leftfield, to Nick Doody
Marcus Brigstocke
The Paddingtons
Tony Benn
Shazia Mirza
Matt Kirshen
Simon Munnery
The Beat

visit Come Clean which is run by Carol Naughton and an Ambassador for Freedom in the Air. Carol a trained Paediatric Physiotherapist spent years fighting to get the skills and talents of young people with disabilities recognised and to encourage them to get out there and do it for themselves!!

The exhibit, entitled “Full Circle” will focus on Rotary’s worldwide efforts to eradicate polio, and will feature Gautam’s story, as a polio survivor from London who traveled to his birthplace of India to immunize children against the disease.

“Full Circle” will include a mix of Gautam’s childhood photos juxtaposed with new photos he takes in Kolkata. It will also include photos of Gautam immunizing children against polio by photographer Jean-Marc Giboux, interspersed with Jean-Marc’s photos of children being immunized in remote regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Full Circle exhibition will run between Oct 13th – 19th 2008 at the Menier Gallery, London.

All over the UK a new generation are putting their vision of a world free of violence into word, music, art, drama, photo and film. They will be coming to party with The Paddingtons in London on 4th November, which is being organised by Gautam Lewis of Freedom in the Air – Watch one of their music videos’ here…

The frenetic Rock and Roll band The Paddingtons will headline the concert and Peace Awards ceremony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the life and vision of the Nobel Peace Laureate, Joseph Rotblat, and the achievements of the young folk in keeping his vision of a culture of peace alive.

The musician and composer Nitin Sawhney, the Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Corrigan McGuire, dancers from the Phoenix Dance Theatre, the broadcaster Joan Bakewell and the artist Gabrielle Rifkind will choose their favourite entries in the Peace of Art competition. The creators will be invited to perform and exhibit their work in London and to receive their awards.

The Peace of Art competition takes the life of one incredible man as the inspiration to a new generation to think creatively about what a future ‘culture of peace’ might look like. Peace of Art is supported by (the NUT once confirmed), the Director of the Guardian Hay Festival, Peter Florence and Glastonbury Leftfield.

The Paddingtons: ”This is all about giving people the space and peace of your mind. Starts out with kids at school and bullying; kicks in around town and then, you’re in Iraq. We’ve all just gotta learn to give people space and we can all have the time of our lives”…..

Sally Milne worked with Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat until his death in 2005, “ Jo had great faith in the young generation today to take up his life’s work and that they would be the ones to create the world he dreamed of where war and nuclear weapons are obsolete. He was a wonderful man whose humanity and wisdom inspired so many.”

For more information see: www.peace-of-art.co.uk

Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat was the only scientist to resign on moral grounds from the Manhattan Project that went on to create the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He dedicated his life to using science for the good of humanity and to persuading other scientist to do the same. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 together with Pugwash Conferences and World Affairs.

Peace of Art is open to all individuals or groups up to age 25. In addition to performing in London, participants can win a cash prize of £1,000 and one of the winning musical entries will play Glastonbury Leftfield stage live in 2009.

The Paddingtons, The Paddingtons? Who are they? A fearsome-fivesome from Hull have come out of the maelstrom and into the fire with their debut double A-side single and chart hit: 21 and Some Old Girl are now returning with their already classic hooligan bruiser and forthcoming single of ‘Panic Attack’. Their debut album is being handled by Owen Morris, legendary producer of Oasis’ Definitely Maybe

Watch one of their music videos’ here…

Joan Bakewell’s broadcasting career continues into its fourth decade with her series for BBC Radio 3: Belief. She also appears on Radio 4’s Saturday Live, BBC 1’s Daily Politics, and GMTV’s Sunday programme. Her latest play was broadcast on Radio 4 in 2007. In 2007 she published “The View from Here: Life at 70”. She currently has a weekly column in The Independent each Friday. Her first novel will be published early in 2009.

Nitin Sawhney “It would be easier to jot down what this man can’t do than what he can.” -The Guardian, London, England There is no disputing the fact that Nitin Sawhney is widely regarded as one of the most influential and versatile creative talents alive today. Firmly established as a world-class producer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, orchestral composer, and cultural pioneer, Sawhney has become a latter-day Renaissance man in the worlds of music, dance, theatre, and film.

Phoenix Dance Theatre
Javier De Frutos (Artistic Director) was born in Venezuela where he began his dance training, continuing at the London School of Contemporary Dance and at the Merce Cunningham School, New York. In 1999, his achievements were recognised with an hour long documentary produced by the prestigious South Bank Show. In 2000 Javier was among the first fellowships of the Arts Council of England.

Ana Lujan Sanchez (Rehearsal Director and Dancer)
Born in Valencia, Spain, Ana trained at the Ballet Clásico de Valencia and at the Rambert School in London. She danced with Ballet Clásico de Valencia between 1993 and 1994 and with Rambert Dance Company for the next eleven years. Ana was awarded Best Female Contemporary Artist in the British Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards 2003 and The Artes Escénicas Award 2006 in Spain for her performance in the solo Necesidad de Silencio.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire is one of the co-founders of the Peace People in l976, along with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown. Mairead was the aunt of the three Maguire children who died as a result of being hit by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) getaway car after its driver, was shot by a soldier. The deaths prompted a series of marches throughout Northern Ireland, and further afield, all demanding an end to the violence. Mairead and Betty went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in l976.

Gabrielle Rifkind is an accomplished artist and author. She is a group analyst and specialist in conflict resolution and is convener and founder of the Middle East Policy Initiative Forum (MEPIF). She is working on developing dialogue between Iran, the US and Israel. She makes regular contributions to press and media and is author, with Scilla Elworthy, of Making Terrorism History (Random House, 2005).

The Paddingtons

The Paddingtons? Who are they? A fearsome-fivesome from Hull have come out of the maelstrom and into the fire with their debut double A-side single and chart hit: 21 and Some Old Girl are now returning with their already classic hooligan bruiser and forthcoming single of ‘Panic Attack’. Their debut album is being handled by Owen Morris, legendary producer of Oasis’ Definitely Maybe.
From touring with the riotous Babyshambles, to opening up for Har Mar Superstar, to having Bez from the Happy Mondays doing his cosmic dance during a Death Disco set or just doing their own thing of frenetic tour-tour-tour in their now legendary white van – swamping the country in a plague of noise and early PIL basslines. They want to do one thing. They are here to bring you the rock. No, not rock as in rock. BUT RAWK.

Their incendiary live shows have become stuff of legend. Alan McGee signed them straight after seeing them live. They crank up the adreneline and make the world their own for three minutes. The Paddingtons experience is a 1,000 mph riot of maxed out, sugar-coated electricity, delivered with wired intensity. Tom; vox, Grant; drums, Marv; guitarist, Josh; guitars and Lloyd; bassist welcome you to their world. The world of the Paddingtons

Freedom in the Air Theme Tune – Let Talent Fly! – The funniest bloopers are right here

I was invited to Kula Shaker gig last night at the Shepherd Bush Empire in West London. The venue were very good with disabled access which suprised me. The last time i was there with one of my bands that i managed called The Beta Band had 3 nights sold out! Back then i was not that impressed with their access.

I have know Crispin Mills for years. I was at School with his brother who is one of our Ambassadors at Freedom in the Air. It has been ages since i had an access all area pass. The gig was brilliant and songs that i loved were Tatva, Govinda and the track they did with the Prodigy which i cannot remember. I once had the pleasure of working in the management team called Ricochet that managed Keith Flint of the Prodigy. I keep in touch with alot and he wants to come flying with me.  During the gig and at the aftershow, I was delighted to catch up with Haley Mills. She was very excited for me that i am now a pilot. She still thinks that i should have been a photographer.(my photographic online gallery called The World of Mr Shoe )..I found some new flying buddies at the gig. Next week, I am taking ace flying for the first time.

I have flown with passengers before post ppl, but they are friends who are professional pilots helping me to attain greater knowledge of the UK airspace. Rusty was my first passenger that i have flown with and i am happy that i was able to share the freedom of flight with him. We have experienced many wonderful times together since our school days, for me the flight has to be one of the best ones.

if you want to know more about Rusty, you can read about him in the questions in the air section. Rusty has many talents, he is a musician and plays keyboards for Razerlight during their live shows. He has recently got back from South Africa where he was playing at the Nelson Mandela Aids concert.

his full interview is available by following this link….