Charity wingwalk for 83-year-old volunteer

An 83-year-old man has completed a charity wingwalk to raise money for Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Clive England, from Riseley, Berkshire, took to the skies at an airfield near Cirencester on Thursday.

He was strapped to a frame on top of a Boeing Stearman biplane for the short flight, and his feat has so far raised £960 of his £1,000 target.

A volunteer for the charity for the last seven years, Clive said he wanted to bring attention to the "amazing" work of the air ambulance.

He chose to volunteer for the charity after realising that many people would share his initial assumption that the air ambulance would be funded, and not in need of support.

"Every charity does wonderful things but the Thames Valley Air Ambulance - this amazing charity - receives no funding from the government, no funding from the National Lottery and they're not part of the NHS," he said.

"They are bringing the hospital to the patient. They're saving lives long before the patient ever gets to the hospital."

The air ambulance operates a helicopter and five critical care response vehicles, and received 3,302 call-outs last year.

Clive said he had a lot of support from loved ones despite the size of the challenge.

"It's a once in a lifetime thrill. One or two friends and family have been telling me I'm mad, but they're incredibly supportive and I'm very grateful for that," he said.

He said: "Obviously when you get to my age, your legs are a little bit stiffer, so I went down at the beginning of the year to make sure I could climb on the top and we did a trial run.

"You're not allowed to do acrobatics if it's your first time, but I could do a steep turn and a low level fly past."

The 83-year-old is no stranger to a daring challenge, having completed two stunts for the charity already.

"In 2019 the challenge was to abseil down the outside of the HQ in Aylesbury," he said. "That was exciting and very good.

"Then in 2022, they decided the challenge would be a skydive so I had a go at that. So now, this completes the trilogy."