Dr Emma Egging steps down as chief executive of Jon Egging Trust which was founded in tribute to Red Arrows pilot who died at Bournemouth Air Show

The founder of a youth charity set up in tribute to a Red Arrows pilot has stepped down.

Dr Emma Egging set up the charity in the name of her husband Flt Lt Jon Egging, who died in 2011 while flying for the Red Arrows.

The couple were living in Morcott in Rutland when Jon was involved in a plane crash at the Bournemouth Air Show.

Within days of the accident, Emma was already having conversations with his friends and colleagues across the RAF and beyond, in her determination to bring to life her and Jon’s shared vision to ‘lift young people up and help them see what they’re capable of’.

Emma, who previously lived in Colsterworth, said: “In his diary, just a few months before he died, he wrote that ‘with the right support at the right time everyone is capable of achieving the best version of themselves’.

“He was very much thinking about how aviation and Stem could be used in a different way to bring people together and remove barriers.

“When he died, because of all of these conversations and because the groundwork had been done, it felt then like a natural progression for me to focus my future on bringing this vision to life.”

Transitioning from concept to reality proved harder than Emma could have imagined and in the first six months after Jon’s accident she worked on the Jon Egging Trust (Jet) from 7am to 11pm most days around her full-time job at the British Museum.

With the help of Lincolnshire teacher John Wiles, who now serves on Jet’s board of trustees, Emma created the charity’s flagship Blue Skies programme which involved working with young people to build their confidence, leadership and communication skills and taking them on regular out-of-school visits to local RAF bases, and workplaces linked to the worlds of aviation and space.

By 2014, with the support of a ground-swell of RAF champions and corporate volunteers, Emma was delivering educational programmes in Dorset, North Wales and Yorkshire, while continuing to work at the British Museum.

“It was at this point I realised that I could no longer continue to do this on a voluntary basis, and that I needed to leave my job in order to grow Jet at the rate it deserved,” she said. Following a complex legal process and a formal interview with trustees, Emma was appointed chief executive and was able to employ her first paid member of staff.

Emma said: “I’ve learned that no-one is born a great leader, you need to constantly grow and adapt into the role.

“If anyone thinks that they’re a great leader at the beginning of something, they’ve got a lot to learn.”

The Jon Egging Trust has grown to a team of 30 staff, with more than 45,000 young people across 14 counties offered support by the charity.

Professor Brian Cox also became the charity’s patron in 2014 and has done everything from running half-marathons and donating vital funds to public tours and co-chairing Jet’s Space Forum in London in 2021 when the charity made its first foray into the space sector.

Emma, who was awarded an OBE in 2021, is now stepping down from her role as chief executive, and handing over the reins to Dr Alex Brown.

She said: “I always knew, instinctively, that the time would come when Jet could thrive without me.

“The team is doing amazingly, and our new chief executive Alex brings a whole new set of skills to take Jet into its next chapter.

“I am excited about where else I can make a difference, whilst continuing to champion Jet and all that it stands for as a trustee.”

Emma added: “If I had to send a message to the me of 13 years ago, it would be that the journey is going to be harder than I could ever have imagined, but that it will all be worth it.”