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Frankie's 90th Birthday Wing Walk for VASA
This is not our usual community transport. At 90, Frankie is walking on the wing of a plane for VASA.
Meet Frankie. She's about to walk on the wing of a plane. At 90.
Frankie turns 90 towards the end of September, and she's not waiting for the day itself. On 1 September, in her birthday month, she's marking the milestone the way she's marked every decade for the last thirty years: by doing something many wouldn't dream of.
She did a parachute jump for her 70th. She went gliding for her 80th. And on 1 September, at RFC Rendcomb Airfield, she's taking to the skies for a wing walk.
Frankie's love of aviation goes back to when she was 14, growing up near Croydon Airport. She joined the Girls Venture Corps, won a flying scholarship, and had learned to fly at Croydon by the age of 20. She went on to become an air traffic controller at just 24, working at airports all over the country before finishing her career at Birmingham Airport and then Wellesbourne, where she spent 25 years before retiring.
These days, Frankie is one of the friendly voices on the end of the phone here at VASA. And she's doing her wing walk to raise money and awareness for us.
We asked her why.
"I just thought I wanted to do something special for my 90th. I've done something special at each ten years, and because I volunteer for VASA, I thought, what better thing to do than raise money for VASA, and awareness of the scheme."
And what does she love most about volunteering?
"Being on the phone. VASA is really, really good, very supportive, they're fantastic. But it's the fact that you're helping people, a lot of them on their own. I hope to get them to laugh before they've gone off the phone."
(For the record, she absolutely does.)
Where your donation goes
VASA is a community transport and wellbeing charity supporting people across Stratford-on-Avon and beyond. Every donation helps us keep people connected, whether that's a lift to a hospital appointment, a friendly voice on the phone, or simply making sure no one has to face things on their own.
Frankie's aiming to raise £1,000, and we'd love your help getting her there. Please give what you can, and share her story far and wide.
Thank you, and if you spot Frankie in the skies above Rendcomb on 1 September, give her a wave.