Two trustees of the RAF Museum are pulling on their walking boots to tackle the equivalent of five marathons in five days (8-12 May 2017) to raise £100,000 to commemorate the RAF’s centenary in 2018.

Alan Coppin and Robin Southwell OBE will walk nearly 130 miles between the Museum’s two public sites: from Cosford in the West Midlands to Colindale, NW London. The marathon men’s 130 mile itinerary comprises:

• Monday 8 May: 0900 hours send-off at RAF Museum Cosford by the Mayor and Mayoress of Wolverhampton. Walk 30 miles to Solihull, stopover approx 2100 hours

• Tuesday 9 May: walk 26 miles to Radbourn, Warwickshire, stopover

• Wednesday 10 May: walk 31 miles to Winslow, Buckinghamshire joined by Air Chief Marshal, Sir Glenn Torpy chair of trustees. Stopover RAF Halton

• Thursday 11 May: walk 26 miles to Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Stopover RAF High Wycombe stopover (HQ of Air Command)

• Friday 12 May: walk 16 miles to finishing-line, RAF Museum, London (Colindale) welcomed by staff. Approx 1600 hours. Photocall and media interviews

Money raised will go towards the £26 million transformation of the visitor experience at RAF Museum’s London site. The Museum is a registered charity and new landscaping will reflect the former historic RAF Hendon airfield and new galleries will tell the story of the RAF’s first 100 years, its role today and invite visitors to imagine its future contribution to society and technology. A digital project will share the RAF story with global audiences.

Fundraising plans also include new exhibitions at Cosford, exploring the first 100 years of the RAF and new aircraft displays which are already underway, to enable the RAF’s story to be more represented to Museum audiences in the Midlands.

Robin Southwell, trustee of the RAF Museum said: “We’re training hard to walk five marathons in five days and have raised nearly £27,000 so far. But we still need people’s support to help meet our target of £100,000 which will go towards modernising this world-class museum. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mark the RAF’s 100th anniversary and it’s a privilege to raise funds.

“We’re grateful to the RAF for their huge support and accommodating us in officers’ messes and RAF Cosford’s physical training instructors for sending us off on our mission in style. We’d love people to come out and support us on the way.”

To sponsor the trustees please visit https://mydonate.bt.com/events/5marathonsin5days/423881 or for information about the fundraising walk and the RAF Museum’s Centenary plans, visit www.rafmuseum.org.

Tags: 2017, May, News, RAF Museum