The day started with me doing a phone interview with BBC radio Berkshire about Smiling Wings at White Waltham with youngsters from Kids Company . Kids Company is an amazing organisation run by a wonderful person called Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set up Kids Company in order to provide practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children and young people.
Here is the slideshow from the day – this link is without music
http://www.aviationwithoutborders.org/smile/whitewaltham/index.html
The majority of the children who they care for have with severe emotional, behavioural and social difficulties, resulting from significant experiences of trauma and neglect. Many of them are ‘lone children’ living in chronic deprivation, with limited or no support from the adults in their family.
With the aid of Aviation Without Borders and the West London Aero Club, the kids took off from White Waltham Aerodrome near Heathrow Airport today. As well as being introduced to the basics of flight, the children were given a presentation on flying, a tour of the hanger led by Gautam, and a demonstration of the workings of the aircraft, and then of course each kidsco pilot had a 30 min flight with one of their friends sitting in the back.
A staggering number of Kids Company’s children have never traveled outside of the immediate locality in which they live, so the opportunity to take to the skies and literally discover a different perspective on the world is something which is hugely exciting to them. The day of flight will enable children from depleted urban environments to see and experience things which they would never otherwise have the opportunity to, firing up their imaginations, exciting their curiosity and giving them a sense of life beyond the inner city.
It was amazing to see their expressions change throughout the day. They came in looking tense and a little quite and not very outward. They left feeling on top of the world and could not stop talking – they were kids who were extremely happy when they left. Sky’s the Limit….
