A MORAY AIRMAN has been honoured for going above and beyond what would normally be expected in fundraising efforts for the RAF’s leading charity.
As officer commanding XV(R) Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth, Wing Commander Jon Nixon is no stranger to reaching out to the men and women under his command and urging ever greater efforts in their day job.
But ‘Lenny’ pulled out all the stops on a personal basis as his Squadron celebrated their centenary year, pledging from the outset to celebrate the occasion by setting a few testing tasks of his own – including taking on the London Marathon for the first time.
That resulted in his raising £8000 for the RAF Benevolent Fund – and guiding his Squadron to a magnificent £28,000 effort, far in excess of the £15,000 target they had set at the start of the year.
Now Lenny has been named by the charity as winner of their ‘above and beyond’ award in a ceremony that paid tribute to all RAFBF fundraisers over the last 12 months.
“The RAF Benevolent Fund is our leading welfare charity and it seemed fitting they should be our chose charity when we celebrated our 100th year,” Lenny said after receiving his award at a glittering ceremony in London this week.
He added: “Like any flying squadron we have lost colleagues in the past and we have seen what the fund can do to help families – so it feels really close to home.”
The stunning work of the men and women of XV Squadron was not the only Lossiemouth effort noted at the awards, with Team Lossiemouth RAFBF led by Karen Cox nominated as fundraising team of the year, an award they had won in the past.
On this occasion, however, they were pipped by the excellent ‘April Fools Club’ while RAF Northolt also pipped Lossiemouth by being named as Station of the Year.