AIR cadets in Okehampton are planning a sponsored walk in memory of the wife of their ‘wonderful’ squadron padre who sadly died in June leaving two young sons.

Cadets from 2443 Squadron are organising the walk and coffee morning on Saturday, September 16 to pay tribute to Jennifer Bourne, wife of Padre Simon and mum to fellow cadets Caleb and Rueben.

Jennifer, a popular member of the squadron community, died on June 15 at Exeter Hospiscare after a long battle with breast cancer.

‘Jennifer spent the last two weeks of her life at the Exeter hospice and two of the cadets came up with the idea of doing something in her memory for Exeter Hospiscare,’ said squadron treasurer Sonia Wilkinson.

‘The hospice runs its own event this month which we thought we could get involved with but, however, it was too far away to travel logistically for us and the cadets so we thought, let’s do something ourselves.’

The event kicks off at 9am at the squadron’s headquarters at the Military Sidings on Tor Road, with a choice of two routes, 5k and 10k along the Granite Way towards Lydford. Entry is £5, to include a coffee and a doughnut for finishers, with participants welcome to collect sponsors too. All proceeds will go to Hospiscare.

Sonia said the event aimed to be a fitting tribute to Jennifer.

‘She was a wonderful person who was involved in so many things,’ she said.’She really was amazing, the family are fantastic and things like this shouldn’t happen to people who are only 45 years old and have two young children,’ she said.

‘She was a fantastic mentor to people, straight-talking and just a really great person to have around. We are really hoping that the Padre and the two boys will come along to the event. They are very well-known in Okehampton.

‘Anybody who doesn’t want to walk can come in and just have a coffee. We are aiming for it to be a real family event.’

Sponsorship forms for the event are available from Sonia by emailing treasurer.2443 @aircadets.org