Staff and students from BU are part of the huge team effort to organise and run the Bournemouth Air Festival.
The Air Festival, running from Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 August this year, is free for all and features aircraft from the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, as well as civil aviation displays.
Debbie Sadd, a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Strategy at BU, has successfully masterminded a small army of "Festival Makers". Under her stewardship, vast numbers of spectators - an estimated 1.2m for the Air Festival this year - are given all the information they need to make their day memorable in Bournemouth, as well as at the Wheels Festival in May.
Debbie, who has been helping at the Air Festival for a number of years, said: “The main reason for my involvement is to allow our students an opportunity to take part in probably the biggest open air free festival in this area.
“Also through the expertise we have with The Department of Events and Leisure, we have been working alongside the council events team to help them set up and train all the local volunteers.
“I personally enjoy welcoming the visitors to my home town but more importantly making sure they all have a positive and memorable experience to return again next year”
BU Senior Lecturer Bruce Grant-Braham will be completing his fifth Air Festival as Chair of the respective Safety Advisory Groups (SAG).
This means overseeing the safety procedures on land, sea and air for spectators and staff. All the blue light emergency services are involved as well as local authority representatives such as emergency planning and health and safety.
A specialised tent consisting of BU’s BFX 2015 team and the BBC’s Make it Digital Tour will also be at the Air Festival running animation workshops with an Air Show theme, before giving a presentation at the end of the day screening the day’s work.
