Beth Hughes spent the day at a charity event that gives children in life-challenging situations and their families a memorable experience...

The smiles on children's faces was unmistakeable - sheer joy at being able to fly in a private jet, honk on police car's horns, ring the two's and blues, and sample virtual reality from inside a marquee.

Air Smiles is an event many families and children living in life-challenging situations thrive off. It's more than a fun day - the event, run by charity Fly To Help, is a much-needed respite for families who deserve it most.

Video and images by Beth Hughes

Georgina Godfrey runs Fly To Help, an aviation charity that offers support for children living in difficult situations.

She said: "I’ve worked at Fly to Help for two years and my primary role is to run larger events like this. We visit Satellite Air Fields and run days all over the country in Bournemouth, Nottingham and Gloucestershire. We have a small staff team made of three people, and the charity runs two programmes.

"The first, Air Smiles, offers days of respite for people living life under challenging conditions. This could be isolation, neglect, bereavement, illness, or any other life-challenging situations that people might be going through.

"The day is a short flight in our aircrafts and behind the scenes, but we also have police and fire representatives, and in the past we’ve had classic cars experiences or have visited air traffic controls.

"We run them for individual families or specials educational needs schools. We help young carers from five to 12 years old by giving them a day off from caring for their parents. They come in all different shapes and sizes across the whole spectrum.

"We have 40 beneficiaries who are benefitting from the day, ranging from two and a half year olds to 65 year olds. All the beneficiaries are in life-challenging issues, some have sensory development issues or global development delay, so the activities really help them."

The second event, Airbus Aim High, is an educational program for people aged four to 18 who are looking for a career in the aviation industry. This could entail being a pilot, engineer, cabin crew, or airport handling.

Georgina said: "The pupils visit companies like Airbus, Rolls Royce, the whole shabang. It helps encourage and inspire young people to take up a career in the industry.

"There is currently a shortage of engineers, so we try and tailor our programs to their needs. Some might want to be an engineer, but have never heard of traffic control.

"We host events at London Oxford Airport, Gloucestershire, London Biggin Hill, and Luton, and they typically run over half term so children don't miss school.

"When the funding is available, we get to take them out flying."

A marquee filled with hot drinks, juice, sandwiches, and packed lunches was to be seen on the Airbus West entrance near Hawarden Aerodrome. Just outside, two private jets, offered free by pilots and owners, were to be seen - and heard - taking off from the runway filled with the beaming faces of children and their delighted parents.

A sound on the ground unmistakable for any other was the North Wales Police (NWP) and Airbus Fire Service engines, who recruited mini service-people for the afternoon. Almost every child fulfilled their dream of donning a policeman's hat, and flicking on the blue lights and horn from the driver's seat of a police car.

Mum Lesley Jordan looked on with pride as her son Luke Flaherty, aged nine, sat grinning in the front seat of an NWP four-wheel drive.

She said: "It's amazing day for us all to be involved with. Everyone understands the children have their difficulties. We want to say a massive thank you to everyone - if it was not for them, it wouldn't be possible."

Luke, who has learning difficulties, was able to play and enjoy the day with siblings Erin and Shay Flaherty, aged seven twins.

Phil McGraa, communication relations manager, believes the power of the event is in the smiles.

He said: "I think it's fantastic and exciting. The reason behind today is seeing the children's smiles and giving them an opportunity to smile in what families must consider being a difficult time.

"They have a chance to be children again, and being able to use aviation to do that is a great thing."

The event was also an important day for intern Balint Brunner, and future intern Cathy Campbell, who had the chance to develop their community engagement skills and see the fruits of their labour in the enjoyment of families' faces.

Balint said: "This is about giving back to the community in any way we can. The real thing to ensure is that we do that within the area of youth."

As well as the fire and police services, the latter of which had a set-up crime scene for children to develop their skills of inference, the British Heart Foundation had a stall informing people about heart failure and CPR.

In recent weeks, Airbus have arranged training sessions for workers to learn CPR, and will be enrolling more to do so over the next few months.