Colten Care to give ex-airmen VIP experience at Bournemouth Air Festival

Former pilots and crewmen living at Colten Care homes will be able to enjoy this weekend’s Bournemouth Air Festival from a prime spot.

The care provider, which has 19 homes across Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, has hired a Boscombe beach hut, where the ex-airmen will watch the show and enjoy a special picnic.

One of the residents who will be travelling to Bournemouth for the event is James ‘Ted’ Tootell, who lives at Canford Chase nursing home in Poole. The 78-year-old is a former flight lieutenant with RAF bomber command. He underwent pilot training at the tender age of 18 and went onto pilot Vulcan bombers during the Cold War before gaining his commercial licence and joining British European Airways, which later merged with BOAC to become British Airways.

Activities manager Karen Burdon is looking forward to the air show. She said: “We try to make life very special for our residents and we wanted to enable those interested to enjoy the experience of the air show. We have several residents who were military pilots and RAF servicemen, plus others who have had civilian flying experience during their careers. Hopefully the trip will rekindle more than a few memories. We are all looking forward to a couple of great days out.”