8th September 2008

Bournemouth Air Festival a huge success

The Bournemouth Air Show was a huge success for the Bournemouth Samaritans as well as the event organisers and the weather played a big part in this. At any one time there were hundreds of thousands of people about.

We had a really good position near Bournemouth Pier (although we had a bouncy castle right in front of us!!) and had a lot of interest in what we do.  We had many 'callers', a number of people interested in becoming a volunteer and collected a bit of money, which is a great bonus as the focus for this kind of event is not primarily fundraising. 

Many people took advantage of our chairs to have a sit down, especially on the Saturday when it was really hot and our volunteers took these opportunities to talk to them. Hundreds of people took our literature away with them and it is a shame that there is no way or measuring or evaluating what impact this has, but it can only be good.

The actual air displays were a bonus and were incredible from WW2 memorial flights of a Lancaster bomber, Spitfires and Hurricane aircraft, the Red Arrows and many others, including bi-planes with girls riding on the wings and waving, even when they turned upside down!

Thanks to all those who took time out of the festivities to make our time at the show really worthwhile!

Don't forget, if you would like to help out as a Samaritan volunteer (there are different kinds of volunteer role available) you can apply for more information through this website