Project Wingman is a well-being charity.

The Project Wingman Story

Founded in March 2020, Project Wingman was established by Chief Executive Officer Captain Emma Henderson and other like-minded individuals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to support the well-being of our overworked and under-supported healthcare specialists, Project Wingman rallied 6000 grounded, furloughed and redundant aviation workers to provide a listening ear, a cup of tea and empathetic understanding.

In our well-being lounges, a safe space was designated for our healthcare staff to decompress, de-stress and unwind during the working day. And soon, our training programmes followed.

“We’re proud to have operated 100 well-being lounges for healthcare professionals during the pandemic.”

Realising the impact, we were approached by the NHS to draw out preventative measures to feelings of overwhelm. And not long after, our preventative well-being course was born. Aimed at managing stress, reducing effort, improving effectiveness and enhancing patient care, our course was noted for changing workplace culture.

“When the world began to recover, Project Wingman’s focus turned to a mobile well-being lounge. This, we imagined, could travel the country to support as many healthcare workers as possible.”

In early 2021, as the world began its slow recovery to normality, our volunteers and colleagues returned to work and hospital admissions began to increase. In response, lounges were repurposed to frontline wards and facilities, and our attention turned to sourcing a mobile venue. Soon, ‘Wingman Wheels’ became our key focus.

Launched from the seats of a repurposed double decker bus, ‘Wellbee’ was our first vehicle in a soon to be fleet. Able to provide our famed ‘Tea & Empathy’ support from within our bespoke space, we were given the freedom to assist healthcare staff in settings where lounge space wasn’t previously available. And before long, demand for our service was so high that a sister vehicle, ‘Wingbee’, was sourced.

Since, our buses have travelled from Brighton to Dundee, Newport to Manston, to visit healthcare workers in need.

‘WingTips’, our own magazine packed full of advice and information to support the mental health of our care workers, has since joined the Project Wingman family. And as interest in our efforts grow, the notion of prioritising the well-being of our healthcare staff has ascended the agenda of many institutions.

Moving forward, we even plan to expand our services outside of healthcare, so that any individual who requires our emotional well-being support can access it.

Project Wingman Foundation Ltd works closely with each healthcare provider to ensure all government and individual trust requirements are met to enable safe operation of our mobile lounge and training services. These are updated regularly in line with the latest guidance.

Project Wingman Foundation operates as an independent initiative, not affiliated with any airline or NHS trust. All volunteer crew offer their time and support on a voluntary basis.

Thank you so much for visiting our page, if you would like more information on Project Wingman, or to sign up to be a volunteer please see:

www.projectwingman.co.uk