A Santamental Journey
Father Christmas swapped his sleigh and reindeer for a plane to help raise more than £8000 for Essex charities and deliver an enchanting experience in the skies for local children over the weekend (Saturday 12 December 2015).
Four very special Santa Flights took off from London Southend Airport - whisking 169 children along with their friends and family members off on a unique adventure over the county.
Father Christmas was at the controls of the BAE 146 from London Southend Airport based JOTA Aviation, with his cheeky band of elves as the cabin crew to look after and entertain everyone on the 25-minute flight – naturally, all following the ‘elf ‘n’ safety’ guidelines. Passengers on the final flight enjoyed an extra special trip when Thames Radar gave them permission to fly to London and back.
Upon its return, each flight’s guests disembarked to join an exclusive party in the airport’s terminal, including a visit to Santa in his grotto.
Around £8000 was raised which will be split between three local charities – the Southend University Hospital Keyhole Cancer Appeal, Turning Tides / SAVS and Fair Havens / Little Havens. This amount will also be match funded by Stobart Group for local charities.
Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation that owns London Southend Airport says: “The festive Santa Flights are a truly magical day out for the children and their families, so we were delighted to be able to provide this whilst also raising much-needed funds for such great local charities.”
The 2015 Santa Flights were organised by the London Southend Airport Charity Committee headed by Amy Such and Eileen O'Connor and kindly sponsored by Stobart Group, London Southend Airport, JOTA Aviation, WHSmith, Moneycorp, British Airways and Air BP.
A further £500 was also raised by a Tombola with the proceeds going to a Kids Club in Cumbria that has been affected by Storm Desmond – Stobart Aviation also owns Carlisle Airport.
Glyn added “I’d like to thank all our sponsors and the sixty staff from London Southend Airport, JOTA Aviation and other onsite companies who all donated their time and worked tirelessly to make this happen.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
IMAGE - L-R Mike Sessions (JOTA Aviation), with LSA Charity Committee members Eileen O'Connor, Amy Such, Matt Croakin, Stuart Holliday, Jo Marchetti, Rebecca Jones and Hannah Le Bao.
SOUTHEND UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL KEYHOLE CANCER APPEAL The Keyhole Cancer Appeal aims to raise £600,000 for the provision of a new state-of-the-art laparoscopic (keyhole surgery) theatre suite at Southend University Hospital. This will enable surgeons to perform the latest and most complex keyhole procedures for patients undergoing cancer and general surgery. Hundreds of Southend patients are likely to benefit each year, including people suffering with bowel and prostate cancer or gynecological conditions.
TURNING TIDES / SAVS Turning Tides is a project of Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS) and carries out community based projects in conjunction with partner organisations. Turning Tides promotes active citizenship and offers a range of activities for young people living in disadvantaged areas of Central Southend as well as supporting isolated older people living across the Borough.
FAIR HAVENS / LITTLE HAVENS HOSPICE The charity is the only place within the south east corner of Essex wholly dedicated to caring for people of all ages with a life-shortening illness. Adults and children in need of pain or medication control, or end of life care, may stay at an In-Patient Unit, or make weekly visits to the Day Care Centre for some much needed respite. Their specialist care is free for as long as it is needed. However, for the charity to offer and maintain this service it relies entirely on donations from kind-hearted members of the public.