2 July 2020

A special Spitfire plane will take to the skies across Cambridgeshire this weekend to mark the 72nd birthday of the National Health Service. 

The plane will fly over Royal Papworth Hospital at 17:02, just moments after the one-off ‘clap for carers’ event arranged for 17:00 on Sunday 5 July to mark the founding of the NHS in 1948 and the Thankyou Together campaign. 

The family-owned Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo), who restore and maintain vintage aircraft based at Imperial War Museum Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire, will fly the plane with a very special message written on the bottom of the wings; THANK U NHS. 

The plane will also fly over other NHS hospitals in Cambridgeshire and the East of England, as well as the village of Witchford near Ely to thank the local community there for sewing scrubs for the NHS during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

The full ‘NHS Spitfire 5 July’ route is as follows: 

16:20 - Duxford Airfield

16:28 - Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City (East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust)

16:33 - Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, Luton (Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

16:36 – Lister Hospital, Stevenage (East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust)

16:41 – Bedford Hospital, Bedford (Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

16:47 – Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon (North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust) 

16:53 – Witchford, village near Ely 

16:58 – Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge (Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust) 

17:00 – Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge (Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

17:02 – Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)

17:10 – Duxford Airfield 

You can follow the event on social media using the #NHSSpitfire. Follow ARCo on Facebook and Instagram.

Please observe social distancing if you head outside to catch a glimpse of the Spitfire.