FEATURE aCcEsS ALl AReAs
Air Stuart
Air ambulance services will benefi t from one man’s airborne
endeavours, says ACT Group managing director Phil Atkinson
Every month NOEA will showcase one of its members to highlight some best in class
work in the events industry. Phil Atkinson, one of the association’s Futures Supporters,
is working with the industry to promote a more proactive understanding of Health &
Safety. In this column he takes us to the skies for an extreme example of empowering
events, instead of containing them.
Stuart Grace is a lorry driver from West Yorkshire serving the events
industry. Th ere is so much more to him than his chosen profession though. He
was previously the drummer in various bands, including the fabulous Muldoon
Brothers, who still have a loyal following to this day.
Despite his rock ‘n roll lifestyle he will reach the age of 50 in 2018. For
many this is a milestone marked by exotic holidays or big parties. Not so for
Stuart. He likes to do things diff erently, so he will be seeing in his 50th year by
paramotoring from John O’ Groats to Lands End. Th is might not seem such a
big deal. Lots of people do this journey by various weird means of transport, but
lets think for a minute what Stuart’s committed himself to.
Firstly, his only fl ying experience was for the occasional holiday trip to Spain.
He has had to cram enough training and fl ying experience to enable him to
paramotor solo within just a few months. Th e trip is not without its dangers
either. He will only be able to stay in the air for 30 minutes at a time as he can
only carry small amounts of fuel. Th e trip is therefore likely to take around two
weeks, even before you take into account the complexities of the British weather.
Apart from wanting to celebrate his 50th birthday why on earth would he
want to take on this challenge? Well its all for charity. Stuart is a supporter of
the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. When he is driving his truck around Yorkshire
he sees the air ambulance just about every day.
He says that every time he sees the helicopter he knows that a life will have
been saved. He was amazed that this vital resource receives no government
funding, and needs at least £12,000 a day to stay in the air. Quite simply he
ACCESSAA.CO.UK
wanted to do his bit to support the charity by raising enough money to keep
them fl ying for a day.
ACT National jumped at the chance to sponsor Stuart’s quest. Phil Atkinson,
their managing director, is a keen hill walker and involved in equestrian sports.
He knows only too well how important the air ambulance is. He commented,
“the air ambulance provides a vital service to the people of Yorkshire.
It really is the diff erence between life and death in many cases. I’ve also
known Stuart for a good few years. He can be best described as someone who
lives life to the full. ACT’s business is safety. We make the seemingly impossible
happen by applying sound risk management strategies to provide multiple layers
of protection to prevent or mitigate harm should something go wrong.
We like to think of ourselves as changing the language of safety. For too
long some in our profession have been known for saying “no” and in the process
stifl ing some fabulously creative ideas.
We at ACT National Ltd like to say “yes”. By staying in touch with those
at the cutting edge of creativity we can identify and analyse risks and devise
practical solutions to enable the magic to happen.
By helping Stuart we can demonstrate that even the most hare-brained ideas
can be carried out safely with some planning and forethought.
Come and meet Stuart on the ACT (National) Ltd stand at the Event
Production Show. If you can spare him a pound or two he will certainly
appreciate it, as will the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. He is well on his way to
meeting his target, but he needs more support before he takes to the skies in July.
You can support him by visiting www.gofundme.com/paramotor-for-charity.
You can also follow him via twitter: @paramotor yaa
ACT will be providing regular updates on his progress on our twitter feed
and facebook page: www.facebook.com/actnational/ @actnationalltd
Safe travels Stu!
MARCH 2017 43