Having been through redundancy I know it is not a nice thing. However the comments on this and the bmi forums seem to show a lack of enterprise.
40 years ago it was expected to work for the same firm for one's entire working life. That ended in the 1980s. With a recession that's lasted 4 years pretty much I am surprised people seem to expect to stay in the same type of role until 65.
You all live not too far from either Derby, Leicester, Loughborough or Nottingham - all these places have colleges doing evening classes. If you can't make every class because of a shift the college will often send the notes in the post.
Learn something new - give yourself a backup job you can do if aviation goes wrong.
If you like DIY maybe try plumbing ? Or maybe accountancy or IT is more your thing. Doesn't matter what you choose - the point is to add some other skill to your CV
Everyone has to reinvent themselves from time to time. If you don't society will consign you to history.