Venturing Into a Brave New World

Aerobility has announced a 35-year-old woman from Hastings in East Sussex had learned the basics of flying a light aircraft after having been awarded one of the organization’s scholarships.

Ann-Marie ‘Az’ Baldwin, who is diagnosed with ADHD and Autism, remarked of her achievement: “I applied for a scholarship because I love aircraft and I am always looking up when planes go over. I didn’t know that it would ever be an option to fly.”

Ms. Baldwin continued: “I didn’t think my application would go anywhere because my whole life things haven’t always gone the way I wanted. I seem to fail at a lot of things. But I just thought I have nothing to lose.”

Ann-Marie asserted the experience of flight had greatly increased her confidence, stating: “I have now started learning to drive (after a ten-year break) just so I can get to Aerobility to fly easier.”

Ms. Baldwin added: “It has also given me more drive and ambition. I’ve stopped writing myself off all the time. My motto used to be, ‘If you don’t try, you can’t fail’ but I don’t think that anymore. I feel like I’ve got to try. I’ve realized I’m happiest when I’m flying. You can’t beat that feeling.”

Ann-Marie was and continues to be accompanied on her flights by Pluffy, a toy penguin.

Speaking to the subject of Ms. Baldwin’s success, Aerobility CEO Mike Miller-Smith set forth: “We offer scholarships to ensure anyone can fly with Aerobility, we know how participating in aviation changes lives and we want as many people as possible to experience that. We can only do this because of the generosity of our donors and supporters, such as Boeing; so we thank them very much indeed for making this possible for Ann-Marie.”

Founded in 1993, Aerobility is a U.K. charity perpetually about the commendable mission of providing disabled individuals access to the liberating, self-affirming, independence-fostering challenge of piloting an aircraft.

Across the broad sphere of human endeavor, few undertakings instantiate freedom from restriction so powerfully as flight. This axiomatic truth is particularly well understood by Aerobility’s founders and staff, many of whom are, themselves, disabled aviators.

Through various fundraising initiatives and thoughtful management strategies, Aerobility allows disabled individuals to get behind the controls of an aircraft for a fraction of the commercial rate.

Disabled individuals interested in applying for Aerobility scholarships are invited to do so by visiting the organization’s website.

FMI: www.aerobility.com