As you say the Armstrong Whitworth Flying Group was founded in 1954. The Group’s first aircraft was Tiger Moth G-ALWW, (known as Weary Willie) which was also used by the Coventry Gliding Club for gider tows. This aircraft is still active, being currently registered to the Stratford-upon-Avon Tiger Moth Group. This was followed by a Cessna 150 ‘EO and a Cessna 152 ‘OE, the similarity in the registrations being a source of much confusion for pilots and air traffic controllers. In 1971 the group owned Cessna 150H G-AVVE and leased Rollason Condor G-ATVW from the Tiger Club. More recently the club has standardised on the Cessna 152 for training and used Cessna 172 and piper Cherokee types for advanced training and touring.
The AWA group was but one of several flying groups associated with local companies that were established a Baginton in the 1950s (the others being Rolls Royce, GEC and Armstrong Sidderley). I believe that at the time there was a government scheme that provided tax incentives for companies to subsidise flying training for their employees. If only that was the case now!