Woman wears different hats every day for three years for good cause

By Lauren Beavis via SWNS

A woman has fundraised by wearing a different hat every day for three years - more than 1,000 so far.

Hilary Fleming, 62, has raised over £3,200 (over $4,000) for Wiltshire Air Ambulance - a charity that saved her husband's life twice after he fell off a ladder both times.

The retired NHS podiatrist from Swindon wears her unique hats whilst exercising - which she calls 'hat-ercise'.

So far she has worn 1,110.

Hilary said: "I've gone out with some crazy things on my head!

"It's a bit of a laugh really - but it's to raise awareness and money for Wiltshire ambulance.

"There are days when its cold and its wet and sometimes people think I'm weird.

"But the sillier the hat, the more attention it gets - and it's a conversation starter!"

Hilary gives away a lot of the hats she wore to charity but over the years said she has collected 11 large boxes of them at home.

Hilary says the charity helped her decorator husband on two occasions - one when she came home from work one day in 2013 to her neighbor informing her Shaun was in the hospital, as he had fallen.

She said: "He had broken his neck and his arm, and his back in three places."

Fleming was flown by air ambulance to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and he had to undergo an operation at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Hilary said: "He was in hospital for a fortnight and had to keep a neck brace on afterwards.

"After an x-ray, we found out his neck was impinging on his spinal cord and they had to conduct surgery in an eight-hour operation - which he made a remarkable recovery from."

Around 14 months later, Hilary says Shaun "waited until she left the house" to put up a step ladder in their garden to trim down a tree.

Shaun fell shortly after - breaking his skull, two shoulders and a hip - and Air Ambulance Wiltshire was on the way to help again.

Hilary said: "It was like ER at my garden!

"The helicopter landed just down the road - it's like a hospital coming to you!"

Luckily Shaun had no internal injuries again, and has since gone on to run a half marathon, the London marathon and Edinburgh Marathon.

Whilst Hilary was caring over lockdown, she decided on Jan 1 2021 to go for a long walk every day.

But she said it was day eight that the idea came to her she could wear a different hat while exercising - whether that be swimming, golfing, walking, paddle boarding - "to make it a bit more interesting".

Hilary said: "I burrowed, then bought hats - wooly hats, ascot hats, swim hats, fireman's hat, dartboard, ice-cream hat - any hat you could think of!

"One of my favorites is the one of grapes, and someone knitted one for me that looks like a helicopter.

"It's just about having a bit of fun.

"In lockdown, everyone was sad and traumatized - so it's nice to have something light and something to laugh at.

"It's just a great conversation starter to raise awareness about Air Ambulance - if they haven't heard of them, people are interested to hear more and are always amazed when they realise what this charity does."

Hilary added: "You would never expect air ambulance - you just never know about it until it happens, if it weren't for them Shaun would not be alive or walking.

"They held him for about two hours - they are just amazing."

Hilary explains Air Ambulance receives no government funding - and she hopes to at least raise enough to "pay them back" for their help with her family.

She explained: "At the moment it costs them about £3,500 for one mission - and on average one of their helicopters take off three times a day."

Wiltshire Air Ambulance spokesperson Adam Baker said: "The fundraising Hilary has undertaken for our charity in the last three years has been so inspiring.

"Borne out of an idea to get moving during the pandemic, Hilary has gone on to raise over £3,200 and, when you factor in her many hours volunteering for our charity too, she has effectively paid for an entire lifesaving mission on her own.”

Wiltshire Air Ambulance is the local air ambulance for Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas. During 2023 they were called to 1,167 incidents, an increase of 10.6% on the previous 12 months.

The charity doesn’t receive any regular Government funding or National Lottery grants, so relies solely on generous donations from the public and local businesses to continue its lifesaving work.

It costs £4.5 million a year to keep the service operational, which is the equivalent of over £12,000 a day.

Hilary added what she "really needs" is new hats.

She said: "There are millions and millions of hats out there - I want all sorts!

"Even famous hats - like ones worn by David Beckham - that would be good..

"If someone could give me 300 hats it would make my day!".

You can follow Hilary's journey - and her new hats - on Instagram.

You can donate to Hilary's fundraiser here.