The NHS Spitfire Project

1476. John Romain
1477. Amanda Romain

John and Amanda Romain, from Duxford, Cambridgeshire, created ‘The NHS Spitfire Project’ which saw John take to the skies every Thursday in his restored blue Spitfire plane to support NHS workers, emblazoned with the words "THANK U NHS."

The couple have recently raised over £78,000 for NHS charities by decorating the Spitfire with the names of community heroes in return for donations.

In a personal letter to John and Amanda, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“I wanted to write to you both personally to thank you for bringing ‘The NHS Spitfire Project’ to our skies.

“The glorious image of your Spitfire, decorated with the names of our NHS heroes, infuses us with the sense of fortitude which defines our nation’s history. Your uplifting flypasts and fundraising efforts are a fantastic way of expressing gratitude to the extraordinary men and women of the NHS.”

John and Amanda said:

“On behalf of our family, we are honoured to receive a Points of Light award for the NHS Spitfire charity project. It all began with an idea around a family table during lockdown to fly our beloved photo-reconnaissance Spitfire ‘L’ around the local villages for the #clapforourcarers with ’THANK U NHS’ emblazoned on the underside of the aircraft.

“We hoped it would lift the community spirit and it did, the response was utterly overwhelming. We weren’t prepared for the emotionally charged messages of support and gratitude that we received for that first flight, it was what paved the way for the development of the NHS Spitfire project. Our aim was to involve the nation, enabling them to become a part of the story whilst raising funds for NHS Charities Together. Having now flown over hundreds of NHS hospitals and with thousands of names hand-written onto the Spitfire, we are humbled to have been able to give those in our communities a way of saying a simple Thank you.”