Pilot's plan for sick children ready to take off

Pilot and founder of the Ufosa Foundation, Robert Vallier, is making a 350-mile walk from Battle to Snowdon to raise funds for Ufosa and launch the charity's new UK programme, Touch The Sky.

Along the way, with the help and generosity of six flying clubs at Biggin Hill, Fairoaks, Oxford, Gloucester, Shobdon and Sleap, Robert will lift the spirits of seriously ill, handicapped or terminally ill children and young people by giving them free flights in a light aircraft.

The flights are especially aimed at children who suffer from serious asthma or a lung-related illness, which Robert himself struggled with as a child.

He said: "I remember when I had asthma - I was off school so much, puffing and panting.

"If someone had offered me free flights, I would have jumped at the chance."

Robert has been training hard for the epic walk, which sets off on Sunday, and has been putting in the miles on the exercise bike, as well as walking and playing tennis and squash in a bid to get fit, and dealing with resulting pain and sores of feet and knees.

But the 57-year-old admits the walk will be a huge challenge.

He said: "I have not done that kind of walk before and I have been hard at it with the training."

Robert added: "I really admire someone like Ian Botham, who walked from Land's End to John O' Groats in 35 days.

"But then he's an international athlete.

"For me, it's going to be 35 days just getting to Wales!"

The deputy editor of Pilot Magazine, a keen mountaineer, will be joining his friend Robert for the final leg at Snowdon.

The trip is due to end on September 25 and will include six days of flying and 29 days of walking.

Sponsorship is coming in and anyone wishing to donate can do so at www.justgiving.com.

Ufosa was set up in November 2007, just at the start of a shaky economic climate, but has gone from strength to strength.

This week British Airways lifted a a general charity flights embargo and thousands of Ufosa books destined for impoverished schools in South Africa can now be flown out, with another 2,000, promised to Ufosa by a publisher, heading out shortly.

Ufosa opened its first charity shop in Battle in August 2008, shortly followed by stores in Bexhill, Sidley, Little Common, Silverhill and Eastbourne.

A second shop in Eastbourne and a store in Tenterden are planned, with a target of 30 across East and West Sussex and Kent within the next year.

Originally set up to help the underprivileged in South Africa, Ufosa is now looking at UK-based projects, including activities for youths and the elderly.

And Robert thinks Touch The Sky is the perfect place to start.

He said: "It's good for the children and it's also good for the parents and it's not going to cost them a penny.

"Perhaps it will bring some happiness into circumstances of which I know a little through experience."

He added: "It really is a bit of a challenge. It's a personal challenge as well.

"But you cannot beat a smile on a child's face. That's worth everything."

* Anyone who has a child who suffers badly with asthma or a lung-related illness and would like to put them forward for a free flight with Robert, contact the Ufosa Foundation on 01424 223700 or e-mail [email protected]

Children must be accompanied by a parent on the flight.