Colne View resident flying high after special visit to Spitfire

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May 21, 2019

A wish came true for Colne View resident in Halstead when he went on a surprise trip to visit a restored Spitfire.  

Roy Hopkins, an 89-year-old resident at Colne View, was given the opportunity to visit Duxford to see a Spitfire plane in person. The trip was arranged by the team following his recent award, the RAF Veterans’ Badge, to mark his service after the Second World War.

Roy served inthe RAF during 1948-1954, when he worked as a clerk for the medical corps. With the help of The Aircraft Restoration Company, the Care UK team members at Colne View decided to arrange a special visit to surprise Roy and give him the chance to see the vintage planes he remembers so fondly.

Razvan Stanbeca, home manager at Colne View, said: “Everyone at Colne View knows how important Roy’s time in the RAF was to him, and after he submitted his wish to our ‘wishing tree’, we were thrilled to be able to make his dream come true as further celebration of his recent RAF Veterans’ Badge.

“Roy had a brilliant time, and it brought back many memories of his RAF career – we’d like to say a huge thank you to The Aircraft Restoration Company for helping us make Roy’s wish come true.”

Roy added: “It was a wonderful day and I was delighted to be able to get up close to a Spitfire. I was thrilled to have been awarded with the RAF Veterans’ Badge recently, so this trip was a fantastic extra surprise. It was a really memorable day.”