AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS
What I hope to achieve with the Flying High Tour 2024/25
Jenny Lockyer
coming
MAy 2026
London Croydon Aerodrome Hotel
OUR FIRST FLY EVENT TOOK PLACE IN MAY 2025
as part of the Flying High Weekend.
FLY : The Amy Johnson Festival of Inspiration
FLY is a five year celebration of record-breaking pilot, Amy Johnson CBE, as we head towards 2030 and the centenary of her incredible solo flight from England to Australia!
Our main aim is to highlight and celebrate her incredible achievement in order to inspire thousands across the world with her story.
With Amy as our starting point and inspiration we aim to reach UK and international audiences with events which excite and inspire. The work of our festival will be to create and highlight a host of interdisciplinary activity formed of the arts, aviation and engineering.
FLY is a celebration of Amy and a demonstration of the value of igniting inspiration and bringing aspirations to reality.
Our activity will take place throughout each year in locations across the country in partnership with a host of organisations. Scroll below to find out who!
Our main festival will take place annually in May at London Croydon Aerodrome Hotel in connection with Croydon Airport.
With our festival growing year on year, we aim to be global by 2030.
Core Aims :
• To keep Amy Johnson's legacy alive. We aim for her name to be known across the world once again by 2030.
• To bring people together through an exciting 5 year adventure of arts, engineering and aviation activity
• To inspire and enable aspirations to become reality
• To promote the value of practical skills and the importance of the opportunity to develop them.
We are working to do this by:
• Delivering new events in collaboration with our partners while continuing to offer core activities comprising the show, 'Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out' and post show Q&As, talks, and school workshop days.
• Enriching the work of our partners by building connections, supporting their programmes and initiatives, and pooling resources.
• Signposting opportunities for apprenticeships and the acquiring of practical skills i.e. Access to flying scholarships and opportunities in aviation, engineering, the creative industries
• Inspiring and supporting collaborations across and between generations
• Celebrating the work and achievements of each year within the annual FLY Festival event.
This main festival will showcase the activities of the past year and launch the new festival year.
Themes
Each year will take on a theme inspired by Amy which will inform our programme of activity.
2026 Connections
Exploring partnerships and collaborations within our festival as well as the connections Amy made across the world.
2027 Australia
What is your Australia? Activity which explores our aspirations and how we might bring them to reality. This is particularly important to schools signing up to our workshop programme.
2028 Imagineering
A highlight on Amy's engineering background in all senses of the word. Exploring the practical world of engineering alongside the skills required to bring an idea to life.
2029 To a Star
Tying in with the 60th anniversary of the Moon Landings, this year explores our relationship with the stars and our desire to fly high. Where are we headed? From flying to discover new worlds to flying for flying's sake, this year's activities will be inspired by the human desire to
reach for the Moon...
2030 Roots and Wings
On this incredible centenary this is the year it comes back to Amy. We will be sharing our festival with people across the world. In the UK we will focus on Amy's Roots in Hull and the Wings given to her in London, particularly Croydon Airport and on partner events across these two locations.
Partner locations across the UK and internationally can link with us to deliver a FLY programme of centenary activity across the world!
This year will also be the 90th anniversary of the forming of the ATA. Amy carried out her last flightserving her country with the ATA and we wish to highlight this extraordinary and vital civilian organisation.
FLY 2030 will be a global celebration of the centenary of Amy's flight to Australia in connection with the learning and growth of thousands of people across the world over the next 5 years.
The UK will be the hub of FLY activity and ideally, every venue in the UK associated with Amy will be taking part.
A Vision for our Festival
The work going on throughout the year is the foundation of the festival and the May celebration each year is the celebration of that work. It offers a rich and exciting experience to visitors coming along. Shows, music, film, the showcase of work and window into innovations. The festival itself
will be designed to inspire.
Amy decided what she wanted to do then asked HOW, all along the way.
We want the festival to encourage people to BEGIN and
continue to ask HOW?
The festival will enable our partner venues and organisations to celebrate and showcase their heritage as well as shape future impact. We can work together to deliver experiences that reach our joint goals.
Festival Strands.
These will be explored throughout the next 5 years and will be represented in our annual festival:
Celebration
•
Heritage and Legacy
•
Action and Activity
•
Connections and Partnerships
•
Skills and Experiences
•
Inspiration and Aspiration
THE FLY FESTIVAL CORE TEAM:
Jenny Lockyer
Founder and Creative Director
Producer and lead schools facilitator
Jane Delamaine
Co-founder, Co-Producer and Heritage Practitioner
Amanda Harrison
Co-Producer and Adventure Pilot
Affecting Change
Underpinning ALL of the work we will do over the next 5 years is the constant research and data analysis of people taking part, their experiences, the benefits and learning taking place. We will
seek to understand and be able to demonstrate the value of what we are doing, The initial study on aspiration as part of the Flying High Tour is already showing interesting data.
Over 5 years and in working all over the UK and internationally, our findings will be substantial concerning the power of inspiration to affect aspiration. They will possibly be enough to affect government policy on the national curriculum and access to cultural activity for all.
These are big ideas and funds are essential.
Right now, we are partnering with organisations on new initiatives in order to deliver our ideas and enrich existing programmes of activity in museums, for example.
Other work in 2025 involves forming an official set -up for FLY in order ro receive funding. We aim to secure support through different funding opportunities and offering sponsorship opportunities.
Please get in touch if you are interested in sponsoring FLY in any way.
Current partners:
Doncaster Museum and Gallery in connection with the re-opening of Doncaster Airport
The Honourable Company of Air Pilots
Flying Scholarships for Disabled People
British Women Pilots' Association
Historic Croydon Airport Trust
