THE mother of Red Arrows pilot Jon Egging thanked fundraisers as she described how their donations will help Bournemouth’s youngsters.

Dawn Egging was presented with £1,200 in cheques and told how schoolchildren in Bos-combe will be among the next to be helped by the trust set up in her son’s name.

The Jon Egging Trust has already helped eight youngsters at a school in Lincoln during a trial of the project set up to assist teenagers who are struggling at school.

Dawn said her son’s widow Emma has been to Boscombe to meet a group of youngsters being chosen to benefit from the scheme next.

“I think Jon would be absolutely chuffed with the trust,” she said.

“It’s about trying to identify those kids that really have got potential but are not getting there and are at risk of dropping out.”

In the pilot scheme 10 children were picked and eight got through with an accreditation towards a BTEC.

As part of the course the 14 to 16-year-olds were taken out from their school in a minibus to RAF bases to work on teamwork skills.

Flight Lieutenant Egging lost his life when his jet crashed after a Red Arrows display at last year’s Bournemouth Air Festival .

Dawn said she and Emma have been keeping busy since the tragedy. She said: “You either crumble away and give up or you are positive and get on with things and that’s the way we deal with it.”

Dawn came to the Bourne-mouth Flying Club Cafe to receive £1,000 raised by them and their customers and the Bournemouth Red Arrows Association donated £200 on top of the £7,000 they had already raised.

She thanked them both and described the support from people in Bournemouth as ‘special’.

Lin Charlton, manager at the cafe, said she saw Flt Lt Egging’s aircraft go past before the crash.

And a Red Arrows picture that he signed the night before his death hangs in the cafe.

She said: “He was in here the night before and we all feel quite close to all of them.”

Terry Trevett, chairman of the Bournemouth Red Arrows Association, added: “We know the money is going to a good cause.”

l The Bournemouth Red Arrows Association will be collecting for the Jon Egging Trust at Boscombe’s Sover-eign Centre today from noon to 4pm.