From Classroom to Cloud Nine
Fourteen lucky pupils at a Chorley primary school were taken for a helicopter ride over Lancashire – thanks to the generosity of a local entrepreneur.
Tim Knowles, managing director of FI Real Estate Management (FIREM), offered the children from St Peter’s Church of England Primary School use of his helicopter after meeting them at the recent opening of the new Co-op store at Botany Bay Business Park in Chorley.
Botany Bay is less than a mile away from the school in Eaves Lane and Knowles is regularly seen flying overhead in his eight-seat Agusta 109 helicopter.
The developer recalled: “At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Co-op one of the children said: ‘I always wave at you in your helicopter Mr Knowles but you never wave back.’
“Then one of his classmates told me she’d love to go up in a helicopter so I said: ‘How would you like to wave down at people from your own helicopter?’
“I don’t think they believed me at first but I’m just delighted to have been able to honour my promise and help make a few happy memories for the children.”
Any lingering doubts that he was serious were banished on Tuesday when the helicopter touched down in the school grounds and began making three whistlestop rides over Lancashire.
A total of 14 pupils and their teachers were treated to a bird’s eye view of Chorley, Leyland and as far afield as Southport.
Headteacher Rachel Brown said: “It was an incredible opportunity. We thought Tim was joking at first when he offered his helicopter.
“We needed to fill in various risk assessments and get the necessary permissions but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“It’s a shared experience and the children are now going to write about it.”
Year 5 teacher Nicola Ward said it was unforgettable day and thanked the entrepreneur and his staff for making it possible.
Ten-year-old William, who was one of the 14 pupils picked to go in the helicopter, said: “It was really fun and it made me tingle.”
His classmate Leah, who was the one who told the businessman she wanted to go in his helicopter, said: “It was amazing. Everything looked so small from the sky.”
