Capt Paddy and Lucky take to the skies for LauraLynn and Dogs Trust

Jason Phelan of Emper has come up with a unique fundraiser involving two bears, Capt Paddy T. Bear and his sidekick Lucky, who will be taking to the skies over the next 12 months, to raise money for the LauraLynn Foundation and Dogs Trust Ireland.

Jason who works with the Irish Aviation Authority in flight operations says the furry pair will fly all over Ireland and beyond, logging all their flights, aircraft types and Pilot in Command.

Two separate Just Giving pages have been set up for LauraLynn and Dogs Trust, and at the end of the year, Capt T. Paddy and Lucky will be auctioned off along with their unique logbooks and passports, all for a good cause.

“The people in the industry are very good, and if you do something like this they’re always willing to help out as best they can," Jason tells the Westmeath Examiner. "Already pilots with Aer Lingus, Emerald Airlines, Executive Helicopters, Cutting Edge Helicopters, AeroSuperBatics Wingwalkers and many individual pilots have got in touch, wanting to get involved and support the fundraiser," continues Jason, whose previous fundraiser included him wingwalking in aid the Red Panda Network!

Jason said he came up with the novel idea for Capt Paddy T. Bear and Lucky over Christmas and New Year, and just two weeks in, it has "taken off".

“I came up with the two charities because my nephew is six and I spend a lot of time with him. I tend to split my time between Dublin for work and the family home in Emper, and I also have my own dog Jazz, she was a rescue dog and she’s nine this year. When I came up with the concept, it didn’t take me too long to figure that it would be a children’s charity and a pet charity, predominantly a dog charity. And after doing a bit of research I decided upon those two charities to help this year.

“I think Capt Paddy and Lucky have captured the imagination of people. When I set up the Facebook page, the Irish Aviation Authority’s media team put it out on Linkedin and Twitter, so it had a global reach, and to coin the phrase, it’s ‘taken off’ quite a bit already.

“I had someone get in touch from Emerald Airlines in Belfast saying they’d take Paddy and Lucky up, and then he emailed me yesterday saying the CEO would like to be heavily involved in promoting it when they two go on their travels, through their social media. So already it’s hitting the top people, which it needs to really to get support behind it, so I’m blown away by people's generosity already.

“Obviously I know the guys down in Abbeyshruel, and because of my job I’m involved in the Bray and Birr airshows as well, I know a lot of people on the circuit, so over the summer I’ll be popping along to airfields all over Ireland and sending the bears up, but the key thing is to get their logbooks filled out, with all their hours, the destinations, the different aircraft and hopefully we can get some unique aircraft in there.

“As well as raising money for the two charities on the Just Giving page, we'll auction off and donate the bears. We’re going to have a scrapbook of their travels, the logbook, and I’ve got two teddy bear passports arriving this week."

There are two separate Just Giving pages, under Paddy for LauraLynn at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/captpaddytbear; and Lucky for Dogs Trust at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sidekicklucky.

If anyone wants to help donate, or contribute a flight, they can contact Jason on dedicated email address at aviationirelandchallenge@gmail.com

You can follow Capt Paddy T. Bear and Lucky's adventures on Facebook, and on Instagram