A Nottinghamshire woman has taken to the sky in a daring wingwalk to raise money for the Framework Knitters Museum, Ruddington. Kathy Powis, Chair of the Friends of the museum raised in excess of £3000 for the museum’s Redevelopment and Expansion Appeal.

Kathy, who is 64 years old, described the experience, “It really was amazing. I love planes anyway but this was something else entirely! The wind was incredibly strong and cold but it was just so exhilarating to be flying at 500 feet with not much between me and the ground!”

The outstanding feat involved standing on the wings of a Stearman bi-plane for 15 minutes as it flew at speed of up to 105mph over the Leicestershire countryside. The plane took off and landed from Leicester Airport in Oadby, where a group of her friends cheered her on.

Kathy has volunteered at the museum for the last 18 years and has seen it go from strength to strength as a visitor attraction. It is currently in the midst of a huge fundraising drive to raise a total of £750,000, which will be used to double the exhibition space and create a new visitor centre using the cottage adjoining the museum’s site. When the Trustees appealed to the volunteers to do something quirky to raise funds she certainly rose to the challenge. She explained, “A wingwalk was already on my bucket list, so it seemed the obvious thing to do.”

For more information about the Framework Knitters Museum visit www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk. If you would like to donate to the fundraising appeal please visit http://www.everyclick.com/kathyswingwalkforframeworkknittersmuseum/info.

The Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington is Nottinghamshire’s only working textile museum and celebrates the workers and the trade which gave birth to Nottingham’s Lace Industry and the violent Luddite uprising. It is situated in a historic knitter’s yard built in the early nineteenth century.  The site includes two frameshops, workers cottages, and a chapel where the workers worshipped, which is where the gallery will be situated.