Angel’s chocks away

Berwick businessman Keith Moxham was never one to stand back when there was a fundraising event on to raise money for a worthy cause.
But he probably captured the real feeling of voluntarism when he was talking about Angel Flight.
Keith, last month was guest speaker at a Rotary Club of Berwick dinner meeting and spoke about one of his favourite organisations, Angel Flight.
Angel Flight Australia is a charity that coordinates nonemergency flights for people needing medical treatment and live a long way from large medical centres.
All flights are free and assist patients or compassionate carers travelling to or from medical facilities anywhere in Australia.
Angel Flight pilots do not carry aero medical staff or medical equipment and do not act as an alternative to the Flying Doctor (RFDS) or Air Ambulance.
Keith is one of the volunteer pilots for Angel Flight Australia.
During a recent flight he was reminiscing and said that it was ‘good to be able to give money to causes, but it was much more satisfying when you could help someone by doing it hands on’.
Keith was on his way to pick up little Elijah from the Bairnsdale Airfield and bring him back to Moorabbin where a Leukaemia Foundation volunteer driver met him and his mother for a transfer to the Monash Medical Centre.
Keith loves flying and holds an unrestricted pilots licence, plus a helicopter licence.
Why flying?
“Flying was something I always wanted to do and I used to jump off the garage roof to try it.”
The young Keith Moxham found jumping off the garage roof wasn’t such a good idea even in his Superman suit. Superman had much more success.
Keith said he thought he and wife Beth were almost locals at Berwick.
“We’ve lived here for 20 years,” he said.
He was born at the Ferntree Gully Bush Nursing Hospital and grew up in the Box Hill Blackburn district.
His family moved to Clayton and he studied at the Springvale High School.
“I left school at 15 and went to work but later found I needed to study something so I went for accounting and mixed my day job with night school.
“Beth is a Dandenong girl and went to Killester College at Springvale.
“We met at the Dandenong Town Hall dance, married and for a while lived at Glen Waverley.
“Our daughter, Rachel, became interested in horses so we moved to a larger piece of land at Berwick.
The family featured in the Man on the Land column in the Gazette in 1988.
Rachel now has stateoftheart stables and works as marketing director for the family company Fashion Brands at East Bentleigh.
Beth’s father, Cyril Whiteman, was proprietor of Ariel Taxis.
Mr Whiteman died in February this year.
The Moxhams came to Berwick in January 1987.
That makes them local enough.
Keith began learning to fly 1989.
He said Angel Flight Australia transported patients of all ages needing treatment to destinations where other forms of transport were physically and emotionally taxing or unaffordable.
“We carry patient carers for compassionate reasons, blood, blood products, medical drugs and anyone medically and financially disadvantaged.
“We have conducted nearly 2500 Angel Flight missions helping more than 1200 patients.
“Carers and family members receive nonemergency medical and humanitarian help,” he said.
Although, pilots can claim petrol costs, Keith uses his own Aerostar twin screw plane and donates petrol for his flights.
“That just means they can do a few more flights,” he said.
The service is accessed through registered health professionals, medical practitioners, nurses, and social workers.
Angel Flight pilots donate their time, their skills and the bulk of their aircraft costs for each flight.
Volunteer pilots and aircraft owners’ flight credentials exceed the requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the aircraft meet specified CASA and insurance minimums.
Angel Flight serves patients Australia wide with a network of pilots and aircraft in all states and territories.
The service is growing as the word spreads.
Angel Flight Australia has 1500 pilots registered.
To help offset the pilots’ operating costs, Angel Flight Australia negotiates aviation fuel discounts and the waiver of landing fees at airports around the country.
Air services Australia reverse air navigation charges.
Also, donations received are used to fully subsidise fuel purchases.
Angel Flight pilots donate their time and the bulk of their aircraft operating expenses, but the service still needs lots of other help with things like car transportation for patients and or patient carers, patient — pilot coordinating, fundraising, running information booths at special events, schools and air shows.
Ground volunteers are affectionately known as Earth Angels and Angel Flight Australia has nearly 1600.
Sponsorship funds and donations are used to pay for 100 per cent of fuel used by pilots when they conduct an angel flight.
Funds also go towards specially discounted commercial flights in the event of long haul missions, capital city transfers where a commercial flight is a more economical option, short notice missions or when poor weather conditions prevent light aircraft from flying.
The Angel Flight Australia Support Centre runs on a very small infrastructure, with a general manager and five full time mission coordinators as paid staff.
Demazin Syrups helps to cover some expenses.
Fund raising events are conducted regularly and Keith was warmed with the knowledge that the parents of his last angel passenger had been involved the previous night in raising $16,500 for Angel Flights.
Earth Angels are an important part of the coordination of fundraising activity.
Angel Flight doesn’t have a fundraising department and spends only about five per cent of revenue on some administrative overheads such as marketing.
Ninety five per cent of revenue is spent on the actual coordination and delivery of its service which amounts to $150,000 a year.
Angel Flight Australia is the initiative of Bill Bristow a successful businessman, experienced pilot, and winner of the Australian of the Year Award — Queensland 2005.
With its current resources and infrastructure Angel Flight can accept and coordinate up to 30 flights a week.
For further information contact: Angel Flight Australia, Box 1201, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 4006 or phone (07) 3852 3300 or toll free 1300 726 567, fax (07) 3852 6646 email mailangelflight.org.au or visit www.angelflight.org.au.