Durham Helicopter Museum

Our aim is to inspire armed forces veterans to overcome disabilities by enabling them to achieve their full potential in the workplace.

What is it?

It will be the only Museum in the UK North of Weston-super-Mare totally dedicated to the history of helicopter aviation. We will display an amazing collection of rotary wing aircraft, artifacts, memorabilia and models which will create a unique record and an inspiring tribute to the contribution of helicopters and their pilots in military and civilian life. The collection will include ‘hands on’ interactive exhibits, as well as unique historic aircraft, such as the Bell 47 Westland Sioux featured in the MASH TV series.

We are developing a range of fascinating activities for children and community groups to enjoy, whilst learning about rotary wing aircraft history and ‘how the machines work’.

We are aiming to become a first class tourist attraction in the region, and intend to make a valuable contribution to the regeneration of the East Durham coalfield area.

Who are we?

This is a ground-breaking venture in the field of rehabilitation opportunities for former armed service men and women injured on active service.

The project was developed by Duncan Moyse, a County Durham retired army pilot and engineer who suffered permanent spinal injuries in a helicopter crash during the Iraq conflict in 2003. During the ensuing years, he realised that disabled ex-servicemen and women faced huge obstacles in their efforts to return to work, and that barriers exist in our society that prevented them from becoming fully integrated back into their communities. His own experience and discussions with colleagues revealed that this highly skilled sector of the workforce is frequently unfairly disadvantaged by exclusion from consideration for suitable employment opportunities. His conclusion was that the rehabilitation support offered on leaving the armed services fell far short of what was needed to be effective, and that there was a strong sense amongst his peer group that they has been ‘left to get on with it’. He developed his vision for the helicopter museum, recognising that this would provide an ideal environment to enable these highly trained individuals with a broad range of skills to take control of the running of their own organisation and direct their own transition path back to employment.

The museum will be run by the members of the organisation working as volunteers. Members will be offered a choice from a range of roles essential to running a cultural and learning resource centre, visitor attraction and aircraft maintenance workshop. We will focus on helping our members return to work through practical skills training and courses provided by local Colleges.

Where is it?

The Museum will be built at Shotton Airfield in Shotton Colliery, East Durham, sharing the site with the Sunderland Skydive Academy.

http://skydiveacademy.org. uk /

How can you help us make this exciting vision a reality?

Donations

• by cheque payable to Durham Helicopter Museum and posted to the address shown on this page

• Our Virgin Giving page will be up and running soon

• Choose the Museum as your cause on www. easyfundraising.com and raise money when you shop online

Volunteering

We need people to spread the word and help with our fundraising programme. Please email us if you want to help.

Exhibits

If you have memorabilia, artifacts medals etc. that you would like to donate or loan to the collection, please email us.

When will the Museum open?

As soon as possible! The Museum is in the planning stages. The scheme has the support of the local planning authority, and we aim to have planning consent for the scheme early in 2013. We will appointing a project manager very soon who will lead our fundraising campaign, and plan the development programme. More on this later…….