Project Wingman is an amazing initiative involving volunteer pilots and cabin crew providing wellbeing support to frontline NHS staff during the COVID-19 outbreak in a specially created “First Class Lounge” in hospitals.
Project Wingman started in the UK on 3rd April and the idea is to bring this throughout hospitals in the UK and expand it internationally. The Project Wingman team need contacts at more airlines (DFO level if at all possible), NHS hospital contacts, and also companies who may be able to provide goodies / food / treats to the NHS staff. They also need help from companies to be able to help with the transformation of each designated hospital room into the “First Class Lounge”, for example branded items, furniture and plants.
Specific help is requested in the following locations: Birmingham, East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Even simply promoting and following Project Wingman on twitter (@Project_Wingman) and LinkedIn and any other social media will be an immense help in raising awareness and gaining support. The Aviation Minister, Kelly Tolhurst MP yesterday tweeted her support for the work of Project Wingman so retweeting that would be an immense help too.
If you want to get involved with supporting Project Wingman then please contact me, Tanya Dolan tanya.dolan@thrivelaw.co.uk or Captain Emma Henderson emmahenderson@projectwingman.co.uk. Please also visit Project Wingman’s website for more details www.projectwingman.co.uk
easyJet pilots and crew launch volunteering programme to provide wellbeing support to NHS staff
- Airline crew have come together to form ‘Project Wingman’ to support the well-being of frontline NHS staff during the COVID-19 outbreak.
- The programme was co-founded by easyJet Captain Emma Henderson alongside colleagues from airlines across the UK and clinical psychologists.
- Over 1300 pilots and crew from across the UK are already supporting NHS staff in four hospitals, with the project set to launch in 8 more in the coming weeks.
easyJet pilot and crew volunteers are supporting the NHS as part of a project founded by airline crew across the industry, to provide wellbeing support to frontline clinical staff battling the coronavirus pandemic currently impacting the UK.
The initiative – ‘Project Wingman’ – has been set up by clinical psychologists and aircrew, including easyJet Captain Emma Henderson, and is recruiting pilot and cabin crew volunteers
from across the UK to provide peer support in hospitals, for the ongoing wellbeing of NHS frontline staff. Captain Henderson has been co-ordinating a rapidly growing database of more than 1300 pilots and cabin crew who have volunteered, including 400 colleagues from easyJet.
Project Wingman volunteers will not be working directly with patients, but will support NHS staff in a number of practical ways so they can continue to do their job effectively. They will be deploying the warm welcome that crew are famous for whilst providing staff with refreshments, as well as using their skills in problem solving and peer support techniques learned from their training. Above all, they will be offering a listening ear, comfort and kindness when staff need it
most.
The project was launched last week at the Whittington Hospital in North London where it has been extremely well received by doctors, nurses, Allied Health Professionals and support staff. Now, airline crew are actively providing support at North Middlesex, Basildon and Kings College Hospital London, and the project is set to launch at many more up and down the country in the coming weeks.