11 July 2023
A 35-year-old woman from Hastings has learnt the basics of flying after being awarded a scholarship by the disabled flying charity Aerobility.
Ann-Marie ‘Az’ Baldwin, who is diagnosed with ADHD and Autism, said, “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.
“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.”
The experience has given Anne-Marie new found confidence, and she has since restarted learning to drive.
“It has also given me more drive and ambition,” she continued. “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 realised I’m happiest when I’m flying. You can’t beat that feeling.”
Mike Miller-Smith, CEO at Aerobility, added, “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.”
