The children’s wards at Lincoln County Hospital are set to receive a fundraising boost after Red Arrows personnel completed a gruelling 8,000-mile challenge.
As members of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team carried out their pre-season training in Croatia and Greece earlier this year, pilots, engineers and support staff also took up the challenge to collectively run, swim, walk, row and cycle the equivalent return distance from their base at RAF Waddington to the overseas locations.
At the end of the month-long deployment the team had successfully completed the distance and raised £460 for the Rainforest and Safari children’s wards at Lincoln County Hospital.
Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity Manager, Ben Petts, was delighted to receive the donation. He said: “The Red Arrows have generously supported us for several years and this latest donation brings the total amount raised to over £3,500. We can use these funds to purchase extra pieces of equipment for the children’s ward which will improve the lives of our young patients, their families and the staff who care for them.”
Chief Technician, Ben Pearson, one of the Red Arrows senior mechanical engineers and an organiser of the charity challenge, said: “The team’s had a long association with the two wards, and since 2022, members of the ground crew have visited the hospital at Christmas to meet young patients, their families and staff.
“The whole team is very focussed on maintaining fitness levels and using the pre-season training period to prepare in all aspects for the busy summer of displays and events. This initiative combined that opportunity, while in Croatia and Greece, to help raise money for an important good cause located close to our home base in Lincolnshire.”
Staff from the children’s wards recently visited RAF Waddington, where the Red Arrows have been based since late 2022, to meet some of the team’s engineers who completed the challenge.
After watching a display by the aerobatic team, Play Leader Karen O’Connor expressed her thanks to the crew: “We are so grateful to the support from the Red Arrows team and the time they give to visit the ward and bring a little Christmas cheer to the children and families over the festive season.”
