27/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

Freedom in the Air’s final day with carers from Spurgeons and Bedfordshire County Council Rural Communities Charity. In this slideshow, we get to hear from an instructor, senior carers and of course the bubbly and adventurous younger carers.

Young carers are children and young people who are the main carers of a sick or disabled parent or sibling. Estimates of the number of young carers in the UK vary between 15,000 and 50,000. Read the rest of this entry »

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26/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

Here is a short movie from our recent Freedom Wings days, June 28th and July 24th & 25th with the young carers from Spurgeons. Every carer whom we met during the last few days playing with aeroplanes have a very special and important job to do.

They sacrifice so so much to care for loved one who have a wide range of disabilities.  Spending time with them certainly brightened up our day and we sincerely hope they all had a day to remember. 

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26/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

A day spent with new found friend. Carers from Spurgeons and Bed county council team spent the day with us at Cranfield chilling out and enjoying playing aeroplanes. Some of our guests talk over this slideshow so please tune on your speakers or plug in some headphones before pressing play..

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24/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

The Rehabilitation Centres For Children in Kolkata is where I once underwent 2 years of corrective surgery to give me a chance to be independent. A few weeks ago, i went back there to make a documentary for Al Jazeera English about my life.

RCFC was established by some amazing people due to the inspiration and back-breaking work of a British nurse, Jane Webb OBE. Jane died a few years back, shortly after fulfilling her dream of becoming an Indian citizen.

RCFC is her legacy to the world and I owe so much to her, her vision and all the doctors, physiotherapists, teachers, calliper makers, surgeons, fundraisers, administrators and volunteers who have given their time either for free or for a pittance to RCFC.

Since getting back to London, I have been chatting to Dr William Bunting who is a surgeon and has spent a lot of time at RCFC. We both have the same meeting of minds as to how we both wish to help them grow and raise funding to. Here is an article he Dr.Bunting wrote:

APPROACH TO ORTHOPAEDIC CARE OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AROUND KOLKATA.

Rehabilitation Centres for Children (RCFC) was established 35yrs ago,in the southern suburbs of Kolkata by Jane Webb,an English nurse nd has grown in size and scope since then, its facilities are now extended to the children of the rural poor in Orissa,West Bengal and even Bangladesh. Read the rest of this entry »

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23/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

A very good friend of mine Marcus who i went to school with has just published his first book, Who is Charlie keeper. Marcus is one of those extremely talented and gifted people who lives life to the max, and when i say to max i really mean to the max. He was my guardian angel at school and tended to look after me. Here is some info about his new book.

You can check out all the details, jacket blurb, artwork and sample chapters on the site http://www.whoischarliekeeper.com/

Read the rest of this entry »

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23/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

This article writes about the speech I gave at this years Rotary International of Great Britain and Ireland conference in Blackpool in April. The speech was filmed which can be viewed by clicking here

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23/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

YOUNG AND WISE CARERS TAKES OFF AGAIN WITH FREEDOM IN THE AIR

On 24th and 25th July 2008 10 young and older carers from Spurgeons will be taking to the skies for the day! The aim is to bridge the generation gap between the two sets of carers who look after sibblings or parents with a disability and to give them a day off from their duties.

With the aid of Freedom in the Air, Cranfield Flight Training , TA Aviation and Bedfordshire County Council, the carers will take off from Cranfield Airport. As well as being introduced to the basics of flight, the carers will be given a presentation on flying, a tour of a static aeroplane led by Terry Akeroyd, and a demonstration of the workings of the aircraft.

Spurgeons is one of the UK’s largest Christian charities working with children, young people and families. They want to see a world where all children and young people have hope for their future, the ability to make choices and are excited about the opportunities before them. Read the rest of this entry »

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21/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

It has been ages since i enjoyed picnic in the park with friends. My Harry and his lovely girlfriend Mira celebrated their birthday on Parliament Hill on Saturday. My friend came up from the country to join in on the festivities. I liked the spot as i could watch aeroplanes turn onto finals to land on Heathrow rwy 27 from where we sat. Today, i took Paul flying on a local vfr flight around Cranfield for just over an hour. Paul was the very first person who came flying with me years ago when i had a trial lesson at Sywell. It was great to take him flying now i am a qualified pilot.

Harry works for an amazing creative photographic magazine and gallery called FOTO8 and Host Gallery. It is run by one of the nicest person that i have met in a while called Jon. Check their online gallery. I am unable to go to their summer show tomorrow as i am giving a talk to the Redbridge Rotary Club.

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21/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

Dum Dum airport is a very odd little place in India. I particularly like their style of announcements as per this slideshow..you will need to have headphones or switch on your speakers.

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18/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

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16/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

Italian Vogue publishers Conde Nast heard that I went to India to take photographs of my roots for Full Circle Exhibition, commissioned by Rotary International.  Italian Vogue are going to write a feature about polio eradication using some of the photos. This is will be for their Oct issue which is great as it coincides with the exhibition, world polio day (oct 24th)!

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16/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

This video shows the press we have generated since April 2007..new challenges are ahead of us, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

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15/07/2008 by Mr Shoe Wingtips.

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