ALL eyes will be on the sky on Saturday at 11.15am as the NHS Spitfire flies over Southend Hospital as a thank you to all health workers who battled through the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

And people are now being given the chance to nominate their own NHS heroes to be included on the iconic plane.

The names will be handwritten onto the aircraft before it takes flight to raise money for NHS Charities Together.

The names will be nominated by the public as a way of recognising small acts of kindness throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

To submit a name - be it a friend or family member or someone you've been treated by - go to justgiving.com/nhsspitfire and donate minimum of £10.

In return for the donation, the nominated name will be one of those written on the Spitfire, which has an 80,000 name capacity.

John Romain, founder of Aircraft Restoration Company, said: “The response to our initial flight over the last 8pm #clapforourcarers Thursday was incredibly humbling, with hundreds of people from the local community sharing how wonderful it was to not only see the Spitfire, but also to read the message emblazoned across its wings.

"After such positive response we decided to leave the message painted on the Spitfire for the rest of the flying season, this is where the idea to hand write the names of the nation’s loved ones onto the aircraft to raise money for the NHS Charities Together began."