Jacqui and Malcolm: Our Love Story

It was love at first sight for Malcolm Houghton-Le-Chapple who first met Jacqui at an RAF Valentines ball.

Dressed to the nines, in dark shades and a ‘Bad Boys’ trench coat, Malcolm caught the attention of Jacqui whilst carrying out his duties greeting the Hillingdon nurses off the bus, and escorting them to the ball.

Malcolm said: “I was looking dapper in dark glasses and a trench coat, and I spotted Jackie as she was coming off the bus – she looked absolutely gorgeous.”

As it went, Malcolm asked Jackie out on a date for the following evening. And after much persuasion, and a near-miss sabotage from Jacqui's fellow nursing girls, the two were off to a speedy start.

And quite literally so, with Malcolm crashing his Rover 2000 TC into the railing outside of the Air France building in London.

Things didn’t slow down there, with summers spent picnicking on cream cakes at the nurses home garden, which soon turned into summer celebrations of their 1979 wedding anniversary.

Looking at how their romance has blossomed, Malcolm said: “You won't believe how many good moments we shared. Outside the RAF base was a lovely cake shop so for the first few months I was able to buy my Jacqui cakes in the summer which we sat and ate outside the RAF base.

Fortunately, Jacqui and I were in close proximity of one another – so we didn’t have to suffer a long-distance relationship. We knew exactly where we wanted to go and that was in the direction of having a family together.

It involved a lot of sacrifice. One day you’re Sandy and Danny and the next thing you know it’s not all about keeping up with ourselves anymore but making room for a life together. Which meant that we gave up some things to make room for other things.”

Malcolm said: “Jacqui has been phenomenal as a mum. She's carried over all her nursing talents and used that to benefit us as a family, including taking care of me”.

In February 2021 Malcolm was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the Fund has stepped in and supported some of Malcolm’s welfare needs. In 2022 Malcolm and Jacqui attended the Fund's Group Breaks in Hayling Island for some much-needed respite. 

Despite Malcolm's prognosis, Jacqui continues to refer to her beloved husband as: "The Airman with his head in the clouds, side by side with the Nurse who's feet are firmly on the ground."