Pilots to take Flight of the Giraffes visit Cotswold Wildlife Park

On April 19 Flight Lieutenant Mark Scott and Flight Lieutenant Phoebe Valentine-Wood will fill every seat of a RAF Voyager with a stuffed giraffe in support of the charity ‘Giraffes on Tour’.

It was set up in memory of a nine-year-old girl Louise Conway who was a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2013.

During her stay she was never without her cuddly giraffe Geoffrey.

After she passed away, friends and family of her father Ian Conway started flying cuddly giraffes in RAF aeroplanes and posting the photos and videos online.

Mark said: "Last year the charity was nominated for a Pride of Britain fundraising award, and I spotted the news item which really struck a chord.

"By coincidence I had been flying my daughter’s own cuddly giraffes with me on Voyager.

"I got in touch with Ian Conway with a crazy idea. Suppose we could find 291 cuddly giraffes we’d be able to fill every passenger seat of a Voyager during one of our routine Air-to-Air Refuelling missions."

The pilots paid a visit to the real-life giraffes at Cotswold Wildlife Park which is donating cuddly giraffe passengers to the flight.

Mark added: "Pupils attending schools around RAF Brize Norton can email flightofthegiraffes@gmail.com and we’ll arrange to come and pick up the toy passengers from their schools the day before the flight."

People further away can visit www.giraffesontour.co.uk and buy a seat for their giraffe, a boarding card and postage and packing materials to send their giraffes to the charity in time for the flight.

Giraffes will be safely posted back afterwards.

The charity would also be grateful to receive any donations via their website or Louise’s JustGiving page.