Helping Wings scholars pass with flying colours

Sunday 13 August 2017

Helping Wings, a Jersey flying charity, presented eight awards at its 2017 Flying Awards Scholarship presentation.

All the awards, which ranged from flight experience sessions to a twenty-five hour flying instruction package, are aimed at people who either have a physical disability or who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

The event took place at the Jersey Aero Club with around 50 attendees including Helping Wings’ patron, Jersey's Lieutenant Governor, Sir Stephen Dalton.

Helping Wings has fitted a hand control to one of the Jersey Aero Clubs PA28 training aircraft to allow a person with a lower-limb disability to fully operate the controls.

The scholarships were sponsored by the Ports of Jersey, who have supported the charity since its inception in 2013 and the Sir James Knott Trust.

This year’s presentation saw a new award sponsored by a previous scholarship winner, Chakotay Wood. Chakotay decided to ‘pay back’ his scholarship, which he won in 2015, having raised enough funds to offer the same opportunity he received to another budding pilot.

The principal beneficiaries of the 2017 scholarships were:

• Jack Brown who won 25 hours flying instruction with the Jersey Aero Club sponsored by the Sir James Knott Trust.
• Cody Crocker was awarded 10 hours’ flight training sponsored by Ports of Jersey
• Stephan Cerioli won the new Chakotay Wood scholarship for approx. 13 hours of instruction

Other winners were Charlotte Volante, Emma Le Seelleur, Shona Loius who each received five hours of flight training and Val Gavey and Pierre Brochard who were awarded an hour each of flight experience.

This year, Helping Wings scholarship winners will again fly with their instructors in the Jersey International Air Display.